The Side-Job REWRITTEN
by DevilsWriter
Summary: As a girl in need, she went further then she had ever gone before, pushed her limits so far she was afraid they would bounce back like a bungee cord, but it was all for love and everything was allowed when it was for love...right? Will the green eyed stranger from the bar ruin everything, or will he make her see the light, make her believe that she is worth more?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

"You know, prostitution is against the law," the honey smooth voice sent shivers down her back.

"I'm not a prostitute," she said without turning to look at the man who was behind her.

"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain the exchange of cash with every male I've seen you with here for the past three months?"

"I don't know you, so I don't see how it is any of your business," she snapped and started to walk away, without letting her eyes land on the man behind her, but he had other ideas: he grabbed hold of her arm and spun her around so she was pressed up against his chest.

"My name is Edward and I can easily have you thrown in jail for both prostitution and tax evasion: being paid under the table and not pay taxes is more than enough to give you a few years behind the bars."

"What do you want?" she asked, staring up at him with wide scared that if she didn't find a way to make him forget everything, she would in fact end up behind the bars and Charlie would end up alone.

"I'm a man of law, but I don't mind going against the rules some times," he smirked down at her, his dark eyes glinting in the dim lightning of the bar as his hand went down to her ass, "Give me a taste of what you do and I will forget everything."

"O-ok," she stammered, taking his hand and leading him out of the bar and back towards campus.

The fifteen minute walk was stretched as he several times stopped and pressed her up against a building to kiss her deeply, grounding his erection against her every time.

She stumbled through the door of her dorm thirty minutes later, his hands already up underneath her dress, pulling her panties down.

"Condom," he commanded as she stepped out of her panties on the floor and she rushed over to her nightstand.

The tiny little stock of condoms was gone. "Fuck," she cursed and turned to look at him. He had removed his jacket, revealing a white t-shirt stretched tightly over a broad chest and several artistic tattoos that covered his arms. "I'm out," she told him, unable to take her eyes off his chest as it was bared to her, showing her how his tattoos continued over his shoulders and over the top of his chest.

"Maybe you should expand your stock or lower your customer rate," he said casually as he reached for his wallet, pulling out a small silver packaged in foil. Once again, she wanted to snap at him and tell him that she was no prostitute, but then she saw the green in his wallet and held her tongue.

With the foil packaged between his teeth, he moved in front of her and roughly pushed the straps of her dress off her shoulder, bunching up the fabric, ready to yank it off her body. However, she quickly stepped away from him: it was her only dress and she would be damned if the asshole in front of her was to ruin it.

Slowly, she moved her hands behind her back and pulled down the zipper, pushing the black fabric of her dress off her hips, letting it pool around her feet. Standing only clad in her best underwear, she looked at him as his eyes roamed her body, and she felt the desire to cover herself up but she didn't move until his eyes found hers.

"The rest," he said in a bored tone and she unclasped her bra, letting it slide of her arms before it joined her dress on the floor. He motioned for her to remove her thong as well, but she ignored him and stepped closer, suddenly feeling brave.

"It's your turn," she said in a low and husky voice, leading him to her twin bed, pushing him down until he was sitting on the edge. Kneeling in front of, all but naked, she didn't feel weak but strong, as if she was in control, like she wished to be.

With delicate fingers, she untied his shoes and pulled them off his feet, neatly placing them next to the bed before removing his socks, letting her hands travel up his legs as she did.

"I don't have all night," he almost barked and she looked up at him with a small smile: of course he didn't, he only wanted sex from her.

"As you wish then," she smiled, sitting up straight on her knees, resting her hands on his thighs, palm down.

He huffed and started to unbuckle his belt, pulling it out of its loops before popping the first button on his strained pants. She watched hungrily as he released his hard cock and when it sprung free from it's confinement, her eyes immediately glued to the dark and exposed head of his cock.

Before he could say a word, she wrapped her lips around the tip and bobbed her head slightly before freeing it again.

"Fuck!" he hissed, his head falling back as he leaned back on his arms.

With a hand on the base, she took him in her mouth once more and slowly moved her head and her hand up and down the hard shaft. She almost gagged when he trusted against her, hitting the back of her throat and she slowly pulled her mouth away, her eyes a little teary but she ignored the stinging burn as she got to her feet.

"Where do you want me?" she asked as he sat back up. He took a few moments to look around her small dorm and she could see a smirk stretch across his lips when his eyes landed on her small window.

"There," he said, pointing at it and she went over there, leaning against the sill and she removed her thong, throwing it in his direction.

Turning to the window she clutching the windowsill with her hands until her knuckles turned white and she was glad that more than 80% of the students were celebrating the end of yet another semester and no more exams for three months. The campus was more or less deserted for the next several hours, until the last bar closed for the night around five in the morning.

His hands came to rest of her hips and she shivered slightly as he pressed up against her, his long and hard cock pressing up against her butt. Slowly, he slid his right hand in front and down between her legs, pressing a finger between her moist lips and rubbing her sensitive nub of nerves.

"Ready?" he asked but he didn't wait for an answer before pushing himself inside of her, pressing her hips against the wood of her windowsill. It was almost painful, how forceful he was, but as he started a steady rhythm, all she could feel was pleasure, and the shame of letting a stranger fuck her against her window.

His right hand, the one that had been between her legs, captured her breast and pinched her nipples so hard it was more painful than pleasurable and she almost whimpered when he tugged, but then he slammed inside of her, hitting a sweet spot and she almost buckled as she came. Holding on to the windowsill, she shook as he continued, his rhythm never breaking but when she sagged against the window, he pulled out and removed the condom.

"Finish me," he ordered as she shakily knelt in front of him again and covered his cock with her mouth.

He stood perfectly still as she bobbed her head up and down, her hand helping her, and he barely moved as he came, his hot semen filling her mouth so surprisingly fast that some ran down her chin and down on her breasts.

"Well, that was fun," he said after his release, "How much do I owe you?"

"It's 100 per hour," she said automatically, saying the price she claimed when she was used as a decoy or just arm candy. He glanced at his watch and pulled out his wallet from his pants and three a few bills on the couch.

As he dressed, she got to her feet and wrapped her robe around her naked body, waiting until he was out the door before picking up the money he had given her.

She held four hundred dollars in her hands, despite the fact that the whole ordeal had barely taken forty-five minutes. Shaking her head, she clipped the money, put them in her shoebox with the rest and wrote down the amount in her book. Under 'job', she wrote only 'other'.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Tired and sore, she stumbled out of her dorm the next morning, clutching her robe tightly with one hand as she carried her key and shower-bag in the other.

The night before, she had been too tired and ashamed of herself to let herself be seen in the halls of her building, so she had fallen asleep on top of the covers so she wouldn't get any of his or her juices on her freshly made bed.

Warm water had always been her cure for bad dreams, bad mornings or simply bad days. She felt refreshed and ready to take on the world again as she walked back to her dorm, humming Goo Goo Doll's _Iris_ softly as she swung her shower-bag back and forth. Her mood was light that she barely saw the white envelope taped to the middle of her murky brown door. It was only when the light from the window of the end of the hall caught the whiteness of the envelope she saw it.

Still humming softly to herself, she plucked it down and brought it with her. The shower-bag was hung on the hook next to her closet, as usual, before she started to remove her robe as she also opened the envelope.

Standing naked as the day she was born, she read the note inside three time before picking up the small, grey business card that followed.

 _Edward A. Cullen, attorney of Law._

 _1-617-987-864_

The note read

 _Isabella Swan,_

 _I now know your name and along with that, I can get my hands on your life story if I want to. I can assure I will not do so and I will neither let the public know of your little "side-job", as long as you do as I say._

 _I find you good at what you do and you helped me release some much needed tension last night, and because of that, I am willing to make a deal with you. Let me call you whenever I will need some much needed release, and answer, and your dirty little secret will be safe and you can live a life outside of the bars of jail._

 _Call it blackmail if you want to, but I guess there is a reason for why you have let yourself go to such a job, so if I were you, I wouldn't think too much about it and just take the deal: I'm only giving you one chance to do so. If you decide to turn me down, I will not hesitate to let it all become public and no matter how long you crawl on your knees, a position I enjoyed tremendously, I will not bow down to you._

 _You have until the end of the day, at midnight, to give me your answer._

 _Edward A. Cullen_

Shocked, Bella sat down on her bed and stared into nothing for what seemed like forever. When her eyes started to burn with dryness, she blinked a few times and clanked at her clock. It was one in the afternoon, giving her only eleven hours to actually form a coherent thought.

Blackmail had just been thrown in her face by a man who actually held his power over her head, her choice of living over her head. From the moment she had decided to let the boys on campus use her like arm-candy, she had only thought about her dad and how much he needed her help, no matter how hard he tried to refuse the truth.

With Charlie Swan in her mind and heart, she had come up with a way that would lead the boys to her dorm, a way that filled her two shoeboxes with money faster than she liked to admit. It became a trend among the guys at campus to use her if they needed a date and didn't dare to show up alone, or if they only needed someone to make a girl jealous. Swamped with school at day, she became swamped with dates at night, some nights so fully booked that she sometimes didn't enter her dorm again until two in the morning.

The stress from school and the stress from keeping the truth from Charlie had taken it's toll on her and when her second Christmas in Boston came around, she gave Charlie a lame excuse about school that made it impossible for her to travel home and see him. She spent the holidays sleeping and eating.

A deep sigh escaped her and she squeezed her eyes shut as she thought about her opportunities: she could ignore him, Edward A. Cullen, and go on with her life as he spread her dirty secret to everyone she knew, and some more. On the other hand, she could pick up her phone, call him and agree to his terms, at least almost.

"Eleven hours," she murmured to herself, her eyes strained on the note in her hands.

Five minutes to midnight, she picked up her phone and dialed his number, her mind all over the place as she paced the floor in front of her twin bed.

"Edward Cullen," his dark and masculine voice sounded through the phone.

"It's me," she said in a small voice, realizing that he didn't know who ' _me_ ' was, "Bella, from last night."

"Ah, Bella, cutting it kind of close aren't we?" he laughed and she almost laughed with him, his laughter infectious.

"I've been thinking," she murmured into the phone as she stopped in front of her window, one hand caressing the smooth wood, memories from the night before flooding her mind.

"Well, since you called, I guess we have an agreement. If you're calling to tell me that there will be no agreement, I will have the dean at your college know about your little side-job," her hand stilled on the windowsill and she stared back at herself through the window.

"We have an agreement," she whispered, gripping the phone tightly.

"Fantastic. Meet me tomorrow at the coffee shop one block from the bar we met, _Little Cup_ , at noon. If you don't show, well, you know what will happen." And then he hug up.

*** C R S ***

Her hands were shaking and she was tripping on her feet as she tried to convince herself that it wasn't such a big deal if everyone found out about her little side-job, but she couldn't: it would not only ruin her reputation but it would ruin her dad.

Smoothing down her light blue denim shirt and her dull brown hair, she took a deep breath before entering the small coffee shop. It was her favorite place and through her three years in college, she had spent countless hours in one of the many corners, reading and surveying.

He was easy to spot among all the customers who came in to get their daily caffeine to survive the day: even sitting, he held himself in such a way that it was impossible not to notice him.

Wearing a tight black t-shirt and a grey west over it, showing of his beautiful art on his arms, he looks like a Greek God in the sunlight coming through the window, and the bad boy every parents want to shield their daughters from.

"You seem to have a habit of cutting it kind of close, don't you?" he says as she reach his table in the far corner of the coffee shop.

"I apologize if my timing isn't satisfactory to you," she said calmly, sitting down, hanging her little black purse over the back of the chair.

"Why so formal, Bella?" he asked, her name rolling delicately off his tongue.

"Can we just start and get this over with?" she asked as Ana, one of the many girls working there, came with a cup of black coffee, three sugars and a small dash of cream.

"Here you go Bella," Ana smiled and Bella gave her a ten dollar bill, knowing fully well that she was overpaying Ana.

"Thanks," she smiled warmly at the girl as she stuffed the bill in her pocket and went back to her job. Turning back to him, her smile disappears.

"Since there's no need beating around the bush," he took a swig of an unlabeled bottle, "I know what you've been doing for the last two years and we both know that it's illegal, and that if any teacher had found out, you would be banned from schools all over the country. There's still a chance that you will be banned from schools if anyone found out, making it practically impossible for you to take a masters in whatever you've studied. I'm your saving angel," he smirked and she felt the urge to slap it off his face.

There was a long silence between them and she stared down at her coffee. "You are threatening me to out me, so what would you want in return?"

"I think I made it clear in the note I left you yesterday, that there's only one thing I want from you and so far, you've already given it to me once. Through the summer, at least for three months, you will be available for me whenever I need it. I know for a fact that you have your dorm until the middle of August and that you don't have a job, other than the obvious one we've already talked about."

"You want me to be on your beck and call?"

"Yes."

"Uhm, ok?" she was agreeing with him but her answer still came out sounding like a question. However, he didn't pick up on it.

"I expect you to give up all of your clients right away," he said with a face set in stone.

It wouldn't be a problem, as her job as Cupid was over, the jealous girlfriends back with their loving and caring boyfriends already, but she didn't tell him that: it was better to let him have his own illusion of her.

"Ok," was all she said.

"I will of course pay, so you don't go poor over the summer, but instead of using a steady amount, I will decided depending on how you please me."

"So if I one day doesn't feel good and, what, gives a bad blowjob, you will then give me basically nothing?" she didn't care about the money, she never really had, but they were still very important for others.

"Exactly," he nodded, "Over the summer, there will be late summer parties, Fourth of July is of course important, and there will be several baroques. For those, I will need you to play the part as my date so I don't have to take time of getting to know someone new."

They sat in silence and Bella took the chance to look around to see who had decided to visit the little shop, but she didn't recognize anyone from her classes or any of those who had been her 'customers' through the last years.

"You know," she started, looking out through the window and those who hurried down the street, "I find you rather shallow."

"Says the girl who's selling herself," he shot back at her.

"You are blackmailing me for your own gain. At least what I've been doing has been for the pleasure and need others have had. I've given them what they needed, not taken what I wanted."

"I see you point," she hadn't expected him to agree on anything that would ever leave her mouth and head snapped in his direction, "But I have disagree on one thing: I'm not shallow, I only know when there's something for me to gain."

"In my eyes, that's the same thing as shallow."

Sitting back in his chair, she watched how the black t-shirt stretched across his muscular chest and how they moved as he lifted up his left arm, glancing at his watch.

"I have a meeting in twenty minutes, but I will be at your dorm around four. Be there." Before she could come with a crud comment, he left.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Bella was pacing the length of her small dorm, anxious and confused, and most disturbingly, she was looking forward to seeing him again. She couldn't deny that he was handsome and that he had been her first man in almost two years: she needed this as bad as he did, there was no denying it what so ever.

The knock on the door sounded through her small dorm just as she pulled a pair of flimsy sleep shorts.

"Come in!" she called, expecting to see Edward. "What are you doing here, Mike?" Bella sighed as she turned to the blond haired and blue eyed boy.

"Jessica is threatening to break up with me, so I need your help to make her see that she wants me."

"I'm not doing that anymore, Mike," Bella said shaking her head.

"But you have to help me," Mike huffed.

"I don't have to do anything for you!" Bella snapped, "Besides, what good will it do taking me out when Jessica knows that I'm only there to make her jealous?"

"She's not that bright," Mike laughed and Bella narrowed her eyes.

"And neither are you, it appears, and if I were you, I would move away from her," Bella looked up to see Edward standing behind Mike.

"And who are you?" Mike demanded to know.

"I'm her boyfriend," Bella almost laughed as the words left Edward's mouth, but she knew it would be better if she kept her mouth shut.

"Boyfriend?" Mike laughed, hard, once, "Do you know that everyone, even girls, have been on her?"

"I now and I don't care. Now, I think it's would be better if you simply left," Edward's voice was low and calm, threatening.

"Thank you," Bella said sincerely when Edward closed the door after Mike had left.

"Hopefully, he will spread the words that you are no longer selling your services to college students."

"Only you, huh?" Bella quirked an eyebrow as Edward stepped closer, pushing the straps of her top off her shoulders.

"Yes, and you better remember it. If I learn that you've been with someone else during our three months duration, I will not hesitate to out you."

"You have no idea how far someone who struggles are willing to go to get a better life," Bella whispered, staring at his chest.

"I think I get the gist of it, or I wouldn't be standing here and waiting for you to kneel and take my cock in your mouth." Getting down on her knees, Bella didn't hurry unbuttoning his jeans and pulling the zipper down. It turned her on to know that he was going commando under his jeans, but she couldn't understand how girls enjoyed giving a blow job. She understood that many did it just because of the power that followed with the whole thing of holding someone by their balls, but she found no enjoyment in it.

Licking her lips, she took a deep breath and took his semi hard cock in her mouth, letting it slide easily in and out until she felt it harden between her lips. Letting her eyes focus on his manicured patch of hair, she concentrated on breathing through her nose and let him glide easily in and out of her mouth.

"Stop," he commanded, harshly tugging her head away from his cock by her hair: a whimper escaped her lips. "I just saved you from that asshole, the least you can do is to focus on the task at hand," he snapped, pushing her away so she was sitting on her ass.

"I don't like giving blow job, never been good at it and never enjoyed it."

"You gave me on the other night and if I'm remembering correctly, you seemed to enjoy it as much as me."

"Alcohol," Bella shrugged. Alcohol always seemed to lure out the sides of her she didn't even know she had and she was never able to say no, a reason for why she rarely drank.

"Take your clothes off and get on the bed," he commanded as he undressed himself. Standing in his naked glory, Bella couldn't take her eyes off him as she pushed her shorts down, followed by her panties and her top.

Swallowing, she sat down on the edge of the bed and scooted until she was lying in the center, her hands folded on her stomach.

A hard tug on her right leg made her squeal as she felt herself being pulled to the edge. Looking down, she watched Edward as he threw her legs over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out. Her head fell back as she felt it connect with her overheated skin and when his tongue flickered over her growing clit, she moaned, loudly.

"Let me hear you," he said against her skin and she couldn't even think about holding back the loud moan that followed his intense sucking, licking and nibbling of her sensitive skin.

The building orgasm sent spasm through her body and she felt herself starting to clench, earning to feel him inside again, knowing that he would bring her great pleasure.

With a hand in her hair, she arched of the bed, ready to let herself go in the numbing orgasm she felt building, when he removed himself from her.

"W-w-what?" she stuttered, looking up at him with hooded and lustful eyes filled with confusion.

"Get up," smirked at her as she wobbled slightly on her legs and he guided her over to the couch, pushing her so she was bent over the back.

She heard him rustle around as she waited, her mind foggy and her body humming with need and lust. She was so focused on how her own body was humming that she didn't feel his hands on her hips. Gasping in pleasure and surprise as he trusted hard into her, she felt the edge of the couch's back dig into her abdomen and hips, with each trust he did. It was hard, it was fast, skin against skin, but it was what she got and it was what she needed.

All too soon, her orgasm built up and she exploded around him, shaking and throwing her head back as she moaned loudly. Her legs grew weak and she felt herself slip to the floor when he exploded inside of her, but he caught her and his rhythm didn't falter as he mercifully continued to slam inside her.

With a growl, he erupted inside her and quickly pulled out, making her moan in disappointment as she felt the emptiness. Barely turning her head, she watched him remove the condom and throw it in her bin. He looked at her once, long and hard, as she tried to catch her breath, leaning against the couch, before putting his clothes on.

"Same time tomorrow, here," he said before throwing a few bills on the couch and letting himself out.

Still shaking from her orgasm, Bella picked up the bills, four hundred like the first time, and put them in a shoebox found for his money only. With already eight hundred dollars, she smiled sadly as she thought about her dad and how much this would help him if she continued to please Edward like she had done twice.

With a quick calculation in her mind, Bella realized that if she wanted to save the fifteen thousand she needed, she had to have sex with Edward thirty-seven times, and a half.

"Only thirty-five and a half left," she mumbled to herself as she put the shoebox away.

Pulling on a t-shirt, she curled up on her bed, the hot summer breeze blowing through her window, and settled down with a good book, an old and well read one she had read more times than she could count: Wuthering Heights.

She had never been able to like the relationship Heathcliff and Catherine had, but there were something about the book that made her read it again and again, even when she could tell most of the story word by word, much to her friends horrification.

*** C R S ***

"What on earth are you going to do when we leave?" Alice sighed dramatically as she threw herself down on Bella's couch, the same couch Edward had fucked her against two days in a row. A small amount of wine splashed out of her glass and she smiled sheepishly as Bella found salt and club soda, rubbing the stain right out of the soft grey fabric.

"Well, 31st of July, my contract for the dorm runs out and on 1st of August, the new contract of my new loft apartment starts. August 5th is my first day at _Dwyer, Holland & Lee_. Good enough plan for you?" Bella asked almost snidely, sick of her friends pestering her about her plans now that she had graduated.

"Oh, honey, you know we won't be happy until we know a man is giving you a good fuck on regular basis," Rose smiled sweetly as she poured herself her third glass of wine in less than an hour. She and Alice was planning on get plastered on their last night in the country before heading out to Europe and Asia the next morning.

Bella on the other hand, always sensible, drank her wine slowly.

"Talking about sex, how is your after school 'hobbies' going?" Alice asked with disdain. Bella knew her friends supported her at the same time as they hated what had become her 'job' for the past three years.

"I know you hate talking about it, so we don't have to," Bella sipped her wine and hoped they would let it go.

It didn't matter how much she loved her friends: she hated it when the brought up everything they thought she did wrong.

"I still don't understand why you couldn't just get a job," Rose murmured, being the one to bring the conversation a little further than just a conversation, as all ways.

"I tried having a job, I had three of them, and yet I earned barely half of what I earn for a month doing something illegal. I don't care how I earn them as long as money do what they are meant to do: help Charlie.

"Ok, why don't just let this subject rest for now, huh? It's our last night together before we take off, so why not enjoy it?" Alice asked as she turned the music up, making Bella cringe as she hated the songs Alice liked when she started to get drunk.

"A good idea," Bella agreed neither of them heard her over the music, just as neither of them heard the sound of the knock on Bella's door over the loud music.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded to know as she silently slipped through the door, making sure Alice and Rose hadn't seen Edward.

"We both know what I'm doing here," he smirked, reaching for the door handle but Bella stopped him.

"I have someone over I don't want you to ruin our night," she said hastily, realizing how her chosen words sounded when it was too late and Edward had the door open, Ariana Grande filled the hall.

"Oh, who are you?" Alice asked with a large grin across her lips, her white teeth stained by the red wine she had consumed in a rather shot time

"I bet he's here to give Bella the fuck she so desperately needs," Rose drawled form her chair and Bella covered her face in embarrassment.

"Can I speak with you alone?" Bella asked, ushering Edward out of her dorm. "You can't just barge in like that," she hissed as soon the door was closed.

"I can to make sure you're-" Bella quickly stopped him, motioning to the faint shadows underneath her door, showing them that Alice and Rose was listening to their conversation. "My place tomorrow," he said in a low voice, handing her a card with his address on, which she quickly hid in her bra.

"Who was that?" Rose demanded to know as soon the door was closed behind Bella, "And don't lie to us!"

"I met him at a bar last week and we had coffee earlier today. He came by to ask if I had seen his phone as he can't find it," Bella easily lied to her friends, feeling bad, "And yes, I hope to fuck him in the near future: did you see him?"

"Ah, we're raised her right, Rosie," Alice sighed happily, opening another bottle.

"Shouldn't the two of you take it a little easy? After all, you're going to security tomorrow to enter different continents in less than twenty-four hours. I doubt they will let you through if you're still drunk tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm planning on persuading the security that I'm perfectly fine, just nervous, and then I will sleep the alcohol off on the plane, arriving perfectly sober in Paris," Rose smiled.

"And I have no plan but I know I will in the end arrive in Luang Prabang and travel through all the desired countries in Asia, and some more."

"You're lucky," Bella said softly, taking a sip of her wine as she turned down the music, "Wish I had time to do this as well."

"You have Charlie to worry about, but when the time comes, you will travel the world as well," Rose assured her drunkenly.

"Yeah, if Helen lets me," Bella grumbled, her mood souring at the thought of her older sister, the sister who decided to act more like her mom than sister when they lost Renee to a brain aneurysm during Thanksgiving when Bella was eleven. Helen had been twenty-one when it happened and for twelve years, Bella had had an overbearing substitute for a mom and not the fun and loving sister she knew Helen had once been.

"Leave Helen to us and we will convince her that when everything blows over, you will need some time to only focus on yourself and possible lover or boyfriend," Alice assured her.

"Well, Helen doesn't like you," Bella admitted, sick of hiding it from her friends.

"What's not to like?" Alice demanded to know.

"She thinks the two of you are bad influence on me and that in the end, the two of you will talk me into doing something that will not only bring shame to me, but God forbid, to her as well."

"Yeah, because she's the prefect Stepford wife," Rose sneered, "From what you've told us, about how her husband cheated on her and then she cheated on him, just for the two to get back together have a family, their life could have been its own fucking Soap Opera."

"Ah, there it is, your language," Bella said haughtily, imitating Helen, "Suck obscene language should never be used by a young lady if she wishes to find a husband for herself."

Hours later, three in the morning, Bella locked her door and looked long at the mess Alice and Rose had managed to make in her small dorm: empty wine bottles scattered the floor and a few red wine rings had been made on her cheap table from IKEA. Shaking her head with a smile, she gathered the bottles in a bag and scribbled a note to remind herself that she needed to take it out unless she wanted banana flies everywhere.

She was going to miss her friends, knowing that she would need them close, though she begrudged them the opportunity to follow their dreams of covering as much land as possible in a year.

Rosalie Hale, a fireball of a girl, wished to visit all the romantic sites in Europe. Alice Brandon on the other hand, a romantic and artistic girl, wanted to see where the eastern magic had been born and learn their secrets.

With a heavy heart and a heavy head, a small red wine hangover already building, she stripped out of her jean shorts and cotton blouse before pulling a very well-worn t-shirt over her head and opening the window, letting the summer night breeze filter through her curtains and letting her heated skin cool.

Resting her head on the pillow, she pulled the sheets to cover one leg and when she closed her eyes, images of Edward watching her suck his cock filled her mind. Heat went through her body and she found her right hand going between her legs, finding the bare flesh wet from her arousal.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

 **August 5** **th** **.**

Bella was so nervous and exited that she didn't know what to do with herself as the elevator brought her further and further up in the building of _Dwyer, Holland & Lee_, closer to her first day as an assistant by the second.

The elevator was empty most of the way, which Bella was glad for as it gave her the freedom to be both nervous and giddy at the same time.

It was still hard for her to believe that she had so easily gotten an interview right before graduation, or the fact that they had in fact hired her. She didn't care that _Dwyer, Holland & Lee_ was a law firm and had nothing to do with history, which was her chosen Bachelor: she was just so happy to have a job that would pay for the tiny loft she was renting after giving up her dorm.

Her privacy was broken when she reached the twelfth floor and an angry looking balding man stepped in, a phone pressed between his ear and his shoulder as he balanced a large stack of files in his arms. He ignored her completely, much to Bella's delight and he stepped off the elevator at the thirteenth floor, leaving Bella alone with her own thoughts in the small confined space of the elevator.

Four more floors ticked slowly by before she reached her destination: the eighteenth floor. Her lower lip was red from worrying it with her teeth for so long and perspiration had broken out over her brows but she had no time brushing the tiny drops of sweat away from her forehead as she took in the beauty of the eighteenth floor.

She had judged the office out from movies and TV series she had seen, expecting it to be dark, filled with dark wood and small spaces barely large enough for a desk and chair.

It was nothing like she had expected it to be.

The bright August sun welcomed her through large floor to ceiling windows, surrounding her on three sides. A seating area with large leather couches in a rich chocolate color was place in front of the windows, creating a sophisticated and welcoming feeling to the floor.

"You must be Miss Swan," a cheery woman with long blond hair smiled as she rounded the corner of the cubical that housed the elevator, a large and inviting smile on her lips, "I'm Sherry."

"Nice to meet you," Bella smiled, shaking her hand and wishing she had dried it on her pants before offering it.

"Mr. Dwyer is running a little late, I'm afraid, but he will be with here shortly. Meanwhile, let me show you to the conference room he would like to meet you in."

Sherry led the way and Bella had to hold in a gasp as they walked around the cubical of the elevator: the floor to ceiling windows continued further into the building and the spacious feeling followed. There were no cramped cubicles shadowed by drab and boring walls. The space between the desks gave enough to move freely and the desk areas were separated from the conference rooms by lightly frosted glass.

The conference room Sherry led her into was all frosted glass and the interior were black and sleek against all the pale frosted glass.

A man dressed in a perfectly fitted suit and a mop of dark, yet greying hair, stood from a chair on the opposite side of the large steel and black glass table: Philip Dwyer, the man who had interviewed her and given her the job on the spot.

"Miss Swan," he smiled brightly at her, buttoning his jacket before holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Call me Bella," she blurred before she could stop herself, a habit she had created years and years ago.

"I'll only call you Bella if you call me Phil," he laughed softly and Bella found herself smiling brightly at the man in front of her: she could easily see herself working for him. "What a smile you have," he noted as he pulled out a chair for her.

"Thank you," Bella said, ducking her head and blushing: compliments were a rare thing to hear for Bella.

"And she's a blusher!" he announced to the air, making Bella blush even more as she laughed. "I wish you were here to become my assistant, but alas, you're not for me," he shook his head as if it was the worst news he had heard in years, a dramatic flair to the whole man.

"Then who will I work for then?" Bella questioned curiously as she watched from out of her eye, Sherry, the lively blond, slip out of the room with a smile.

"Only our best lawyer!" Phil announced as he took his seat again, "Mr. C- Ah, Edward, here I thought you wouldn't make it for the introduction of your own assistant!" Bella turned her head in the direction of the door and felt her heart stop beating inside her chest as her eyes landed on the man standing there: tall, broad and dangerous looking.

"I told you I would make it," Edward drawled, not taking his eyes of Bella as he spoke to Phil.

"No, you told me you didn't believe you would make it, which is different and there's no use arguing about it," Phil corrected him, obvious to the tension between Edward and Bella.

"Well, I'm here now, so there is no need in arguing about what I said, especially not when we both know I will win in the end," the smile on his lips were cold and Bella quickly looked away from him when he sat down in the chair opposite of her.

"You're right," Phil agreed, "Edward, meet your lovely new assistant, Bella Swan. I believe she will be able to keep up with you without you being the bully you're known for being," the warm smile Phil sent her warmed Bella from the inside but it only lasted until her eyes found their way back to Edward.

"You know I only drive them hard to test their limits," Edward said as he leaned back in his chair, his elbows resting on the armrests, his hands folded in the air between. Never did his eyes leave her as he spoke, his gaze burning her, like his touch when his hand traveled between…

Bella shook herself mentally, reminding herself that it was not a good idea fantasying about her now new boss in front of his boss.

"Unfortunately, and as you already know, you're not going to work for me Bella, so I will leave the two of you to get better acquainted." Phil rose to his feet with a smile and wished Bella good look in a low voice, meant only for her, before leaving the room, leaving Bella alone with the man she never believed she would see ever again.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck," Bella whispered to herself in a low voice as soon the door closed behind Phil. Suddenly, she regretted wearing the creamy white, sheer blouse with gold buttons that fit well with her patent leather pumps with gold heels, both items which she had worn at some point while Edward had fucked her.

"This is interesting," her head snapped up and she stared at Edward as he smiled, or rather smirked at her, his arms crossed over his chest, the sleeves of his shirt riding up at his wrists, exposing his ink.

A flash of a memory entered her mind and she saw his arms, all of his skin exposed in his naked glory as he gripped her hands with one hand while fucking her merciless.

Heat colored the skin of her cheeks as she thought about the many heated encounters they had had over the summer, how he repeatedly brought to climax so easily, as if he knew her body better than she did.

"If I had known," Bella started to say but stopped herself, thinking better off it.

"If you had known that I would become your boss, you would have done what, asked for more money?" he asked with a sneer, standing from his chair and walking over to the window overlooking the city.

"For your information, I never once asked for money: you gave it to me and I just simply didn't protest. It was you who offered the money the first night and I simply told you how much I had been given in the past." Silence filled the room and Bella stared with burning eyes at Edward's back. "I suppose my career in law, though as an assistant, was short lived," Bella sneered at his back, getting to her feet.

"Oh, if you believe that I will let you go now, you are surely mistaken, I can assure you," Bella stopped at the door, her hand hovering over the handle. When she brought her hand down and pushed the handle down, Edward's hand appeared in front of her, holding the door closed.

"If you think I can work for you now, think again," Bela informed him snidely.

"If you walk out of that door and never return, questions will be asked and answers will be demanded: the truth of our short lived history will be exposed and even though it just might be exposed to Phil, Sherry has her ways of knowing things: everyone will know in no time. And Bella, think about it: no one will care that I paid for the sex I craved, but the fact that you accepted the money, well, it won't go by easy."

"You're threatening me?"

"I wouldn't call it threatening," Edward shrugged casually.

"No, you would call it blackmail and you've blackmailed me once before already, but guess what? I'm not going to let you do it again, so dream on."

"Someone got their claws sharpened. I wonder what they would feel like against my back as I fill you and pound you until you see stars," his voice was low and he took a step closer. If he had done so only weeks earlier, Bella could have backed up against a wall until she was trapped and then let him have his way. Now, she no longer planned to be the meek girl he had met in June: she wanted to be a strong woman who could stand up for herself.

"You'll never learn how sharp they are, because we're not going to have sex again, ever."

"Ooo, stating the fact and making a promise. I will really enjoy it when you cave." Leaning closer, his scent filled Bella's nose and she found it hard to think straight with his delicious scent invading her senses. "Bella, we both know that if the truth comes out, no one will look my way because I'm a man. You on the other hand will receive all of the attention, liking it or not."

She wasn't going to admit it but Edward was right. They were living in the 21st century where equality was the theory but unfortunately, not always a theory exercised and Bella knew if anyone learned the truth of her little side-job and agreement with Edward, the eyes would turn to her, stay on her and make it impossible to explain herself. Edward on the other hand, would be able to slip away without a second glance in his direction.

"There are always ways of making sure that the information doesn't go into the wrong hands," Edward continued, moving closer to her but Bella stood her ground.

"Oh, it's almost cute how you still try to blackmail, even after I told you its futile. But since you have such a hard time understanding what I'm saying, I can repeat it: I'm not going to have sex with you again, ever."

"At some point, you will come to me, willingly and we both know it: you crave my touch, the feeling of my skin against yours and the feeling of me filling you up, taking you hard and relentlessly," Bella's skin flushed as she listened to his words, unable to stop her own body from responding as he spoke the truth. "It might take hours, days or weeks, but it doesn't matter: you will come to me and when you do, I will bend you over my desk and take you hard," he leaned in close as he spoke the words and Bella felt herself shiver as his hot breath fanned over her skin.

herself shiver as his hot breath fanned over her skin.

With her lips slightly parted, she stared up at him as he stared down at her with cool and collected eyes. Her body felt as if it was on fire and she wanted to beg for him to bring her the pleasure she suddenly craved, but she stood strong and repressed her needs, like she had done for all those years.

"Sherry will show you to your desk and Kate, the woman you are replacing, will show you the ropes around here."

"Thank you," Bella said in the coolest voice she could muster as she tried to hide how her body responded to him. When she was alone, Bella leaned against the wall and breathed out properly for the first time since she had laid eyes on Edward that day. She was proud of herself for being as strong as she had wished to be. With a mental clap on the shoulder, she was out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

While Edward was the devil sent from the fiery depths of hell, Kate was an angel sent from the clear heaven above them. She did everything in her power to make sure that Bella would get the hang of the job before the week would end and Kate's last day would arrive.

The small drawer section underneath the desk held a folder filled with so many cheats for Bella to use until she had the hang of it all, though Bella couldn't understand when or where she would be able to use them all. Bella's favorite cheat was a list over all of Edward's current clients. Kate, being well organized, had gone so far as color coordinating all the files with the names on the list.

Everything Kate said was written down and Bella took it all to her heart. It was easy to grow fond of Kate and Bella found herself dreading the end of the week when Kate would leave her alone with Edward.

Unfortunately, and sadly, Kate's last day came at the end of Bella's first week, much faster than Bella had anticipated.

"I've told you everything you need to know about helping Edward run his department of the office," Kate said to Bella as they made their way through the many tables in a small café across from the office. "Now it's time for me to give you all the secrets that will make working for Edward a whole lot easier."

"Is there an easy way?" Bella questioned in disbelief as they sat down at a table overlooking the busy street outside.

"Ok, so there's not an easy way, but believe it or not, there are ways that will make it all a lot easier."

"Tell me all about it," Bella said with a small smile as she sipped to her hot tea.

"Edward likes to test people, and there's no reason to ask me why because I don't know, but I think it is to make sure that you're reliable," Kate shrugged, wrapping her hands around the mug of coffee in front of her. "Today, before you go home for the weekend, he will tell you to turn up at seven on Monday and you will do that because he's your boss. The thing is, Edward won't be at the office until eight, maybe even eight-thirty."

"Then why should I turn up an hour earlier than him?" Bella demanded to know, cutting Kate off.

"As I said, it's a test of sorts, but I know how you will knock him off his feet. Turn up around six-thirty, or a quarter to seven, and make sure the security guard knows and will inform Edward of your early arrival. Use the hour to get yourself ready for your first day alone with Edward, make the desk yours, organize it and make sure that you know every appointment he has before lunch."

"So I'm supposed to use my first day to impress him?"

"Yes, but your main focus will of course being getting your job done, but if you impress him on Monday, he will see you with a different set of eyes, believe me. Now, a quarter to eight, go down to the deli at the corner and buy a triple cheese bagel you heat in the microwave in the coffee room. Make sure that it's hot when Edward arrives, so make the security guy tip you off when he arrives. Edward loves the triple cheese bagel but he will only allow himself to have one during the week because he likes to be in good shape. You've seen him." And Bella had seen him, so many times she had lost the count only a week into their little agreement.

Before, she had only read about men being as fit like Edward, as muscled as he was. His shoulders were broad and hard, his arms, underneath the ink, corded with muscles that twitched whenever he moved. His hips were narrow, his thighs hard, and just like his arms, corded with muscles: she had felt every inch of him move behind her, pressed against her and above her.

The thoughts of Edward muscled body made Bella slightly flustered and she felt herself grow wet, against her own will, but she knew there were no use denying that she wanted him, that her body responded to him, no matter how much she tried.

"I've seen him," Bella confirmed, trying to keep the huskiness out of her voice as she spoke.

"I learned quickly that by giving Edward his favorite bagel for breakfast on a Monday, the rest of the week wouldn't be so bad. Even though he looks inhuman, he's just like us and has the blues after a weekend. A cup of strong, hot coffee and a bagel and he will purr like kitten, at least as close as a kitten Edward Cullen will ever come, and make your week tolerable."

"Show up early, ally myself with the security guard, triple cheese bagel and strong coffee," Bella summarized.

*** C R S ***

Bella spent the weekend memorizing his calendar for the week and she knew she had blown Edward off his feet when he stared at her after she had given him the full list of his appointments that Monday. She had seen his smirk when he had asked, knowing she didn't have her calendar with her at the moment and the satisfaction of seeing his wide eyes was more than Bella would ever be able to describe.

*** C R S ***

It didn't matter how hard Bella tried to suppress the sexual feelings that surged through her body whenever she was near Edward. It, unfortunately, didn't take more than three-four weeks before Bella found herself spreading her legs for him again: her needs for a man, especially a man like Edward, was too strong.

After working so closely with him as she had since Kate had left, having him lean over her desk, over her shoulder, having him watch over her with his hawk eyes as she filled in his calendar, had the sexual tension build up faster than it would take for a New Years Eve rocket take off from the ground.

She simply couldn't fight it any longer.

It was a Thursday night in the beginning of September, when it all happened. Bella was working late because Edward was working late, working on an important case that was just coming up. Edward had needed every man and woman he had on his team, yet it was not enough. There were several similar cases going on spread across the floor and it left Bella as the last person who could devote her time 100% to the case.

It had been Phil who had suggested that Edward could use her when he didn't have enough people. Edward had frowned at the idea, clearly not liking it, but he had warmed to the idea ever so slightly when he realized that without her help, they wouldn't be able to finish it all in time.

That Thursday night, as seconds grew into minutes and minutes grew into hours, Bella found her mind swimming with all the information she had been taking in, information she couldn't even begin to process. Her desk was flooded with files and papers someone had thrown on to it and Bella was hunched over it all when she started to wish she had taken that waitressing job she had been offered first. However, as she thought about the late hours spent on her feet in uncomfortable shoes, a job that wouldn't even pay half of what she was earning being Edward's assistant, the thought quickly disappeared.

"Are you finished with the May-file?" Edward called from his office, the sound of his loud voice making Bella jump in her seat.

"Almost!" she called back and quickly turned her attention back to the file she was working on, but the longer she looked at it, the harder it became to keep focus.

"You need coffee," Bella jumped in her seat again when Edward's voice reached her ears, though suddenly from right behind her.

"You scare the fucking shit out of me!" Bella accused with a hand to her chest.

"Didn't mean to," he smirked, making Bella scowl at him.

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe."

"Ok, maybe I did: you were so consumed in that file that I believe a horde of elephants could have run through the office without you noticing."

"I'm just being thorough but if you have a problem, tough shit!" turning her back to him, she hoped he would leave her alone so she could finish her work and go home.

"Thoroughness is an admirable treat," a strange look crossed across his face but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. "Now, are you done with it?"

"Almost, but if you need it, take it," throwing the file together, she held it for Edward, sick of the damn case. "I might have missed something but I'm sure you'll find it if I have."

"I'm sure you haven't missed anything, but I will have a look at it," Edward nodded, moving away from her desk, "Make sure all the files are in alphabetic order and leave them at my desk. When you've done that, you can leave for the night."

"Thank you," Bella smiled, stifling a yawn as soon he was back in his office.

The first time Bella had been told to sort a pile of files in alphabetic order, she had done what she had been told and sorted them alphabetically, A-B-C-D and so on. However, Edward had his own system and he had even taken time out form his busy schedule to teach it to Bella.

For Edward, everything had to be alphabetized after how important the different files were for the case they belonged to. If a file was marked with A-1, it was the most important and the most well protected one. Every file marked with a D was less important than everyone else, but the higher number that followed the D, even less important it became and the file could contain nothing but scribbles.

Bella admired his need to have order and a file cabinet that was easy to go through, but hungry and tired, Bella wanted nothing more than to push the files up the place where the sun didn't shine on Edward.

By the time she was done with the files, Bella's judgment was frazzled, if existing at all, and all she wanted to do was to go home and crawl into her brand new and wonderful bed, and sleep for a hundred years.

"I think you need coffee as well," Bella said softly to Edward as she placed the pile of files in the chair in front of his desk, making Edward look up from the file he was currently working on, his eyes bloodshot, and heavy, just like hers.

"I need something much stronger than caffeine," he said as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes.

"Tell me if there's anything I can do," Bella said softly before retreating from his office.

"Come in here!" he called mere seconds later and Bella quickly turned on her heel.

"What is it?" Bella demanded to know, not going to obey his orders simply because they came from him.

"Come here," he pointed to the spot in front of him, a determined look on his face.

Bella knew it was a bad idea, a really bad idea, to do as she was told by Edward, but his dominate side held an appeal to her and it made things happen in her body, things she couldn't explain.

"Bella," the tone of his voice made her move and she found herself looking down at him as his hands came to her thighs, stroking slowly up and down, and sending electricity through her body despite the woolen fabric of her pants.

"What are you doing?" she demanded but her voice faltered as she melted underneath his touch, trying to keep her eyes from closing in pleasure.

"Having something that's a lot stronger than coffee," he murmured seductively as his hands came to rest on her ass, pulling her closer until his face was aligned with her stomach.

With a sexy glint in his eyes, he looked up at her as he pulled the zipper down, seductively and painfully slow: the longer his green eyes lingered on her, the more turned on she felt by him.

"I can feel the warmth coming from you," he murmured as he nuzzled his nose against the pale flesh of her stomach he had just bared, going lower until she felt him against her slit, the tip of his nose.

"Oh God," she moaned, her head falling back as she felt the tip of his tongue connect with her silk clad pussy.

"So, Bella," she loved the way her name rolled off his tongue, "Do you want to come on my tongue, fingers or cock?" as he moved the fabric of her panties away and licked her wet slit, Bella found herself unable to speak and she only nodded, not really giving him an answer.

Before she knew it, she found herself staring at the ceiling of Edward's office as she laid on his desk, all her clothes but her bra, which was pulled down to just under her breasts, pushing them almost painfully up.

With a swift push, Edward was inside of her and Bella heard a loud moan filling the room, unaware it was she herself who moaned so loudly.

"More," she heard herself demanding, "Harder!" and Edward complied, his thrust becoming harder and faster, giving her more just like she wanted.

The orgasm she had earned since she had started to work for Edward four weeks earlier, came crashing over her, hard, a chocking moan escaping her mouth as she arched off the desk, her knuckles going white as she gripped the edge of the desk tightly.

She could feel Edward explode inside of her and before she could stop the thought of entering her mind, she wished he would collapse on top of her, let her cradle his head against her chest as they caught their breath.

Time and time again, she had been warned by Alice and Rose that she would always look for something more with a guy when a future between them didn't exist. As Edward pulled out, she was reminded of their words and Bella shook her head to free the silly thought that had entered her mind. She knew that to Edward, she was nothing but a quick fuck, a way for him to get a much needed release of built up tension. Just as the icing of the cake, she was his assistant and secretary, which would make the situation a lot harder if anyone found out about their mutual sexual attraction that would in the future, lead to a lot more sex than just a quickie on Edward's desk.

Besides, she wasn't looking for a serious relationship, not that she knew what a serious relationship entailed as she had never been in on, but she knew that getting her life and future right first was more important at the moment.

"That will keep me going for a few more hours," Edward smirked as he pulled on his white shirt, covering up all of his delicious tattoos.

"Glad I could help," Bella muttered with a roll of her eyes as she sat up and straightened her blouse. Looking around, she found her skirt lying on the floor next to Edward's chair and her panties hanging from a large plant to the left of the desk.

"Told you I would get you underneath me again," Edward bragged, his smirk still plastered to his face, as he picked up her clothes and handed them to her.

"If you need to brag about it, I guess it doesn't happen so often, you having right I mean," raising an eyebrow, Bella silently challenged him. When he shook his head, she just shrugged and slipped her panties back on. "It doesn't matter if you were right or not because this mistake won't happen again."

"I don't see how it can be a mistake when we both enjoy it so immensely," Edward smiled, emphasizing his words by slipping a hand underneath her still open blouse and cupping her right breast, pinching her nipple, which pebbled underneath his touch.

"My body might answer to your touch," Bella confessed as she pushed him away and got to her feet, "But I'm your assistant, which makes this wrong."

"Why stop doing something that's wrong when it feels so right?" Edward questioned, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. "Some rules are meant to be broken."

"Says the lawyer," Bella muttered as she stepped into her shoes. "I'm not going to break the rule that will cost me my job."

"You've already broken it," Edward pointed out.

"Ok, I will not break the rule that will get me fired, again. Now, unless you need me for anything else, I will be heading home." Walking briskly out of his office, Bella left Edward with very little room to speak. Picking up her jacket and purse, Bella left the office.

*** C R S ***

Bella's tiny loft was her pride and had become her new love. The loft was 'tiny' as in 'tiny'. It was a typical loft in the big city with a few large windows in what could only be called the living area of the place, the windows facing the better parts of a rather shifty neighborhood.

In the back of the loft, where the bathroom were and a small walk-in closet, there were a few freaking tiny windows looking out over the back alleys. Exposed brick walls gave the room an industrial feeling, a feeling Bella didn't care much for in her new and own home. However, the brick was beautiful and she loved the rusty red color, so she had no plans in changing it any time soon.

The kitchen was in a corner to the left when one entered the, half a wall separating it from what made the living room and the bedroom. A small room in the corner to the right of the front door was the bathroom and the space was just big enough for Bella alone.

With the salary from _Dwyer, Holland & Lee_, she had been able to afford the place but just barely, and there were no chance in hell that she could afford spending any kind of money on renewing her wardrobe, just like Edward had one afternoon pointed out: she had a down payment on her new bed.

Heading straight for the shower when she entered her loft, Bella stood under the spray until the water started to turn cold. With a blank mind, she dried off, changed into a t-shirt and made herself a quick sandwich for dinner, a dinner she enjoyed in front of the TV as she watched _My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding_.

With some food in her stomach, Bella turned to the bed and curled underneath the covers, sighing happily and snuggling into the pillow before turning of the light and leaving the apartment in total darkness.

She was just falling asleep when the sound of her phone vibrating somewhere in the apartment brought her back to the real world. Throwing the covers off her body, Bella angrily followed the sound of her phone and almost growled like an wild animal when she saw Edward's name flash across the screen.

"What!" she snapped harshly into the phone.

"I need you back at the office, now," Edward's voice was just as hers: harsh and cold as he demanded her to come back.

"I had just started to fall asleep and it's almost ten-thirty!"

"I found several errors in the file you worked on, errors that can only help us loose the case and with it, more money than you can count!" with wide eyes, Bella quickly grabbed a pair of sweats.

In less than thirty minutes, Bella found herself back in the office, on the eighteenth floor, dressed far from appropriate for the office. She had thrown her blue trench coat over her shaggy t-shirt, her red Converse and green sweats making her look like one of those people who couldn't care about what people thought about them. Her hair was piled on top of her head in the messiest bun of all time, tendrils of curly hair falling out of the elastic and where were still a hint of mascara underneath her eyes.

"I'm here, what did I do wrong?" Bella demanded as she barged into the office without knocking, stopping mid-step.

There, on his very comfortable leather couch, sat Edward, his shirt gone, leaving him in only his undershirt. His hair was all over the place and he was wearing black rimmed glasses, and to top it all off, leaning forward on his knees, the muscles of his arms bulging, and chewing a pen.

"More than I thought possible," Edward said as he patted the spot next to him on the couch.

Three hours later, around half past one in the morning, Edward announced that they had managed to straighten up Bella's little mess. Edward had exaggerated when he had told Bella that the whole case was lost because of her mess but she felt the tension leave her shoulders when they were done.

It wasn't big but it still could cause Edward the case if he had brought Bella's mess into the court room.

"How could I have known about those numbers when no one told me about them?" Bella asked as they gathered the papers and filing them in the correct order.

"I know you should have been better informed about the case," Edward admitted, "But I thought would you understand it when you saw it."

"If I had known more about the case, I would have made the connection and I would have been in bed now, sleeping."

"Everyone can make a mistake now and then."

"Even you?" Bella asked.

"Even me," Edward smiled. "I've been working here since I graduated, as the mail boy on fourteenth to seventeenth floor, and I mixed up so many important letters and telegrams. I still can't understand why Phil never fired me."

"They were letters, they eventually arrived at the right desk. I'm the assistant forced to do things that weren't in the job advertisement."

"Don't make it sound worse than it was," Edward laughed as he pulled on his jacket and motioned for Bella to walked before him, "By the way, interesting choice of clothing."

"I had just fallen asleep when you called and you made it sound as if it was about life or death, so I simply just threw something on and hurried over.

"Well, I appreciate that you did and honestly, I wasn't expecting you to come back at all. When Kate worked for me, she refused to do anything after eight hours, even though she was my personal assistant."

"Maybe I have something to learn from Kate," Bella mussed teasingly and almost laughed when Edward narrowed his eyes, "Kidding. I'm taking this job seriously so unless you're a horrible boss, a real dickhead, I will come when call."

The smirk on Edward's face made Bella aware of her choice of words and she laughed with him as the elevator arrived and they rode down to the first floor.

"What happened earlier, in your office and on your desk, that won't happen again," Bella said for, hopefully the last time, as their ways parted.

"If you say so," Edward smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Edward won the case three weeks later, at the end of September. The whole sixteenth floor celebrated to the win for a whole day, Phil being very generous and buying everyone champagne and cake to fill the day.

No matter where one turned, there were people there and everyone was slightly tipsy by noon, much to Bella's delight. Bella herself took it easy as alcohol had never been high on the list over things she enjoyed. Besides, she had promised Edward that she wasn't going to have sex with him again and because she rarely drank, she had a tendency to lose all of her inhibitions quiet quickly when she consumed alcohol.

Fucking Edward with everyone on the floor crowding every inch, fucking Edward didn't seem like the best idea.

Though, it was hard as he looked very smart, sexy and handsome in a dark grey suit with matching west over a black shirt, open at the top, no tie, and showing off glimpses of his tanned chest.

The past three weeks had been, for Bella, exhausting. She had spent more time at the office than in her own apartment and her bed and been untouched for those three full weeks as her couch had been favored simply because she fell asleep on it before she managed to move to the bed.

To top it all off, whenever she slept, she dreamt of Edward and every time they had been together. Her dreams were haunted with his taut, muscular body, dark green eyes and sensual lips.

As she stayed to water and coffee, Bella watched Sherry flirt like a mad man on a mission with Phil. It was clear that the woman didn't handle alcohol much better than Bella but Phil didn't seem to mind as he lapped up all the attention Sherry was giving him.

"Come with me," Bella stiffened as she felt Edward's warm breath fan over the exposed skin of her neck.

"Why?"

"Because I want to talk with you," she could hear his smile in his voice and she knew there wouldn't be much talking if she went with him, but oh, she wanted to, badly.

"Edward!" Bella almost groaned when she heard Phil's voice call out and she felt a sudden urge to hit something as Phil walked over to them. "Lee is on the phone and would like to know how the hell you managed to knock Johnson down of his pedestal," Phil laughed as he downed the rest of his champagne and over his shoulder, Bella could see a very sullen looking Sherry nurse her own glass.

"I would love to tell him," Edward laughed and Bella understood that she was missing a joke somewhere, "But I was just asking Bella to have a few words with her."

"Kid, you heard him: your boss wants to talk with you so you better do as he say," Phil smiled and walked away from them, getting his glass refilled.

"Come," Edward demanded as soon Phil was gone.

"I'm not a dog you know," Bella snapped as Edward took hold of her elbow and steered her in the direction of his office.

"I know or I wouldn't find you enjoyable as I do," Edward grinned as he closed the door and locked it.

As she heard the lock click into place, Bella found that she didn't care and she threw herself at Edward. She kissed him hard as she fumbled with his belt buckle and she happily let him take control of his own pants when she couldn't get the damn belt off.

"People can hear us," Bella realized when her own high moan surprised her.

"The room is soundproof: no one will ever find out," he smirked as he pulled her skirt up, bunching it up around her waist before roughly removing her lace panties: perfectly matching dark blue, making her skin look like porcelain.

There was nothing soft about the sex. It was hard and rough up against the door. Edward grunted as Bella moaned, the sound of skin against skin filling the room, mixing with their moans and grunts.

And Edward dominated the whole act, telling Bella to lift her arms over her head, lifting a leg and wrap it around his waist and commanding her to come, which she did as soon as he pinched her clit.

"I hate the fact that I can't deny that it was good," Bella breathed when Edward pulled out and straightened his clothing.

"And I love the fact that you can't control yourself," Edward smirked and Bella felt the sudden urge to slap him silly, then fuck him silly.

"Don't read into it," Bella snapped at him as she fixed her clothes. With her head held high and her mind and body satisfied, Bella left his office, no one in the office any wiser about what had just happened behind the closed door.

Hours later, Bella finally left the office after helping a hangover Sherry with the cleaning so the cleaning company that cleared the office every night wasn't left with too much to do.

With it being a Friday, Bella was glad to remember that she didn't have to turn up at the office early the next morning and she relished the thought of sleeping in in her own bed, the soft and warm covers protecting her from the chill that was settling in the air for the coming month, October.

Heading straight for her favorite sushi restaurant, Bella walked briskly in her high heels, cursing herself for forgetting to bring her sensible shoes that morning as she rushed out the door.

The heels were her favorite ones and they were far more comfortable than any other heels she owned, but after wearing them for twelve hours, they were starting to pinch her feet in all the wrong places.

"Order for Swan," she told the girl as she entered the restaurant and sent her a grateful smile when the girl quickly scurried away to check on her order

"Bella." Her back stiffened as she heard the voice from behind her and Bella spent a few seconds composing herself before turning towards Edward with half a smile.

"Edward."

"You're eating here as well?" he asked politely but she could see a smirk playing on his lips as he gave her a once over, remembering their little lustful tryst earlier. "Meeting a client?" she could hear his distaste in his voice and for a second, Bella wanted to pretend that was just what she was doing, just to rub it into his face.

"No, take out." Just then, the girl came back with her dinner in a bag.

"Wait for me and we can eat together: it's not like your dinner can go cold."

By working his charm and sex appeal, Edward had his sushi fifteen minutes later.

"My car is just over there," gesturing toward a car, Bella's eyes landed on a sleek looking black Jaguar and she just stared at it as Edward opened the door for her.

He brought her back to his apartment and though Bella had been there before, she had been too busy to notice what it looked like. With the darkness outside, the view from the floor to ceiling windows that covered most of a wall, was to die for.

Edward's loft was nothing like the small one Bella rented. First of all, Edward owned the place, and the roof of the building. The first time Edward had brought her there, Bella had been awe from the little she had managed to see before she found herself underneath Edward, writhing in pleasure.

The whole place screamed Edward, from the large windows facing Piers Park, the cozy and modern little kitchen to the left and the large dining table in front of the view. The high ceiling had given the opportunity to make a small loft inside the loft, holding Edward's bedroom and a bathroom, a continuation from the bathroom and guestroom from underneath the wood and steal framed staircase.

The thing Bella loved most about the whole place was not the view through the large windows from Edward's bedroom, but the bookshelves that were built around the squared columns that kept the second floor from resting solely on the brick walls. They followed the columns and to get a book from the highest shelf, one would need a ladder.

And then there was the bathroom next to his bedroom. It was masculine, just like Edward, all grey, white and black, and oh, the ceiling with it's pure clear, bathing the room in sunlight on sunny days. Edward had explained to her the first time they had showered together in there, that because he owned the roof as well, no one could get up there and peek down at those using the bathroom.

Bella took a seat at the dining table and just stared at the view while Edward found plates for them. The view was amazing and Bella wished for something like that herself. She wished for an apartment like the one Edward had, one that reflected whom one were.

"You're quiet," Edward commented as he placed a plate in front of her and sat down.

"I just want to get something straight," Bella started as she served herself from the sushi she had bought. "I know I have a questionable past, a very recent past at that, but I want you to know that I never had sex with any of my clients: I was only there to make someone jealous and make them rethink their choices. That night when we met in the bar, I hadn't have sex in almost three years."

"You're telling me that you never sold sexual services?" from the look on Edward's face, Bella could tell that he didn't believe her but at least she had made it clear she had never sold sex, until him.

"Never."

"Ok." Bella stared at him, a piece of sushi lifted half way up to her mouth.

"This is how you eat," Edward said with a smirk when he lifted his eyes to her again, and he reached forward to guide her hand up to her mouth, place the sushi on her tongue and close her mouth.

"I know how to eat," Bella said harshly after she had chewed and swallowed the piece.

"Didn't look like it," Edward laughed and Bella found herself laughing with him, a warm feeling spreading in her stomach, a feeling she mistook for lust towards Edward.

"Why don't we take this little party somewhere else?" Edward suggest, his eyes hooded as he watched Bella lick her lips.

"Yes," the answer came out breathlessly as Bella pushed away from the table and rose to her feet.

"Go to my room," Edward commanded after taking a kiss from a lustfully dazed Bella and her tingly lady parts ruled her body instead of her brain.

She slipped off her heels at the table, sighing from relief when her feet finally could relax some, and walked up the steep stairs to his room, undressing as she walked.

Naked, she stood at the end of the bed and waited for Edward, almost smiling when he came around the corner of the first part of the stairs.

He looked determined and undressed as he walked closer to her, until he was standing naked in front.

"Turn around and put her hands on the railing," his voice was dark and commanding and Bella quickly followed his order, quickly glancing at his bulging muscles and the ink that covered them.

With no warning, Edward entered her with no problems, Bella's pussy slick, glistening with her own juices as she had longed to be filled by Edward's hard and hot cock.

It was hot and it was raw, the way he fucked her against the railing, pushing her hard against the wood again and again, but Bella didn't complain, not even when her legs turned into jelly and she struggled to keep herself upright after Edward thoroughly played with her clit, bringing her to climax.

She came twice before Edward released himself inside her and Bella almost fell to her knees when he pulled out and away from her, the only thing keep her on her feet being the tight grip she had on the railing that went around his room instead of walls.

"I'm not finished with you yet," he whispered in her ear when he reached around her and pried her fingers off the railing.

"How can you go again?" Bella murmured as he led her over to the bed.

"I have stamina," he smirked, squeezing her ass, "Now, get on all fours in the middle of the bed." Bella did as he told her, on shaky legs, and closed her eyes in anticipation when she felt his hands on her hips.

Again, he entered her without problems and Bella wondered if she should have felt ashamed for being so ready for him, but then she felt him at her entrance and every thought she had had, went out the window, especially as he entered her slowly.

She savored the feeling and closed her eyes in satisfaction, a soft humming of pleasure coming from her chest, like when a man growled in anger or pleasure.

"God," Bella moaned when he reached around her and grabbed, yes grabbed, hold of her right breast, pinching the nipple almost painfully, sending her over the edge again while he again played with her clit with his left hand, his trusts relentless.

All her strength disappeared and she crumbled underneath Edward, with him still inside her, but she couldn't care: her body was boneless and she couldn't move. But Edward finished with one last trust, making Bella moan deep from within her stomach, and he exploded inside of her.

For a few minutes, he stayed beside her on the bed, breathing heavily just like her and again, the wish to have him curl around her and tuck her head into his neck, and pull the covers over them, washed over her like icy cold water.

Instead, which Bella knew was for the best, he rose slowly from the bed and she watched him gather his clothes and put them on the chair next to his closet.

"See you Monday," he threw over his shoulder without looking at her as he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind himself.

Bella didn't waste any time getting dressed and quickly left the apartment. It didn't matter that she wanted for him to take care of her, not just sexually, as there were no feelings for him there, just to wish to have someone with her as she had been alone for far too long, or at least so it seemed.

As she stepped out on the street, she wrapped her coat tightly around herself as the late night September air could chill someone to the bone.

A cab arrived in front of the building, as if summoned by her thoughts, and when Bella asked if he were waiting for someone else, to her surprise he said no.

She smiled sleepily as the warmth of the cab surrounded her and when they reached her building, she paid the man and thanked him. Charming as he was, he wished her a good night and a good weekend.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

At Monday, after a relaxing two days spent inside of her warm apartment, Bella arrived early at the office, as always. With several books, reruns on the TV and a Netflix account, Bella had tried to force herself to forget about her stupid wish for real intimacy with Edward, or anyone else for that matter. However, no matter how much she tried to not think about it, she thought about.

She was sitting by her desk, waiting for Edward to arrive at work, when she heard it, the gossip reaching her long before Edward would: he was in a foul mood, ready to bite a head off and rip someone a new one. Bella didn't really care what kind of mood Edward was in, as long she wasn't the poor victim of his rage.

Minutes after the gossip had reached her ears, Edward strode past her and into his office, the door slamming shut hard behind him.

Tapping her fingers on the top of her desk, she waited for Edward's harsh bark, demanding to know where his coffee was and if she had turned into a turtle, or slug, over the night, that being the reason why she wasn't already in his office.

After staring at the intercom for five minutes, no commands or demands erupting from the small black device, Bella rose from her desk and gathered two large mugs of black coffee. She stopped at her desk on the way back, checking the intercom, and pushing her calendar under her arm before, with great effort, knocking softly on Edward's door.

When there wasn't any answer, she took the liberty of entering without his consent.

"I don't know what got your panties in a bunch, but people are scurrying around here like headless hens, afraid you will rip them a new one if they as much step in your path," she said lightly, her voice filled with humor. She used her foot to close the door behind her before she placed the larger of the two mugs of coffee in front of him.

"What took you so long?" he demanded to know, ignoring her comment.

"There was a queue," she smiled sweetly before taking sip of her own coffee: black, three sugars and a tiny splash of cream, just to make the bitter liquid somewhat sweeter.

"Whatever," he took the coffee and drank it while Bella opened her calendar and got ready to fill his week once again.

An hour later, she closed the book that was her calendar, picked up the two empty mugs and headed for the door, Edward's week sorted out and most of her own as well.

"You forgot your panties Friday," Edward said just as she was about to open the door.

"Thought you wanted a souvenir," Bella smiled sweetly.

"And why would I want a souvenir from you?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I'm such a great fuck and easy to command in bed."

"Well, I threw them away."

"Oh, I'm hurt," Bella mocked before flashing him a grin and disappearing out of his office.

At lunch, Bella was sitting by one of the small tables by the window in the café across from the office building, ripping small pieces of the dry sandwich she had thrown together that morning, realizing that it was about time to fill up the fridge and the cupboards in her kitchen again.

As she gazed out at the greying sky, the fall sun that had shone on her as she walked to the office that morning, slowly disappeared behind clouds heavy with rain, her phone rang. She smiled as she Charlie's name flash across the screen and she picked it up quickly.

"Dad!" she smiled as she greeted him.

"Hey kiddo," she could hear the smile in his voice as well, which only made her smiled grow even bigger.

"How are you feeling"? she asked, keeping her voice light so not to make their moods fall.

"I'm good, just fine, never better, so stop worrying about me," Charlie laughed on the other end.

"You know I can't," Bella sighed, suddenly feeling a flash of anger towards her older sister. "Have you heard from Helen?"

"Yeah, she called a few days ago: they just had another one," Bella's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you know they were expecting a third one?" Charlie asked and Bella could hear in his voice that he was afraid Helen had told him and that he had forgotten.

"No dad, you know we don't talk much, not since I moved to Boston." Yet she had expected her sister to call her, or text her, letting her know that she was becoming an auntie for the third time. "And she haven't told you either," she assured Charlie and she heard him breath out in relief.

"Good to know I haven't lost my head," he laughed and Bella wished she could take everything as lightly as he did. "I didn't call you to talk about your sister and that odd shaped nut she decided to marry all the sudden," Bella wanted to laugh at her father's way of describing Nathan, Helen's husband.

"Then why did you call?"

"I'm coming to Boston."

"Why?" blurred Bella out.

"Whoa, kiddo, hold your excitement!" Charlie laughed and Bella laughed with him, "There's a protégé couple working at Massachusetts General Hospital. They are the two leading people in the world when it comes to experimental treatment, seven out of ten surviving. One of them, don't know which one, was in San Francisco last week and offered Dr. Johnson to take over my case."

"And he just said yes?"

"Well, no, they consulted with me first as they are talking about my health, but I thought it might be a good idea to give them a shot and Dr. Johnson agreed. I'm arriving tomorrow morning."

"Ok," Bella said, nodding her head though Charlie couldn't see her, "Where will you be staying and for how long?"

"I'm leaving Wednesday afternoon, only staying for a day, and they've already set me up with a fancy-smancy hotel. They wanted to come to them so they can take all the necessary tests with their approved equipment. Now, we can talk more about this tomorrow when I'm taking you out for lunch."

"That's sounds nice. Why don't I text you the address to the office and you can come here around noon? Then we can try and find a place we both agree on."

"See you tomorrow. Love you kiddo."

"Love you too, dad."

*** C R S ***

Edward's mood wasn't much better the next day and Bella was starting to wonder what had managed to get his panties in such a twist. When she checked her calendar for the day, she saw that he had added several meeting for 'personal business' over the week, the first one at eight, then one at noon the very same day.

Shaking her head in both amusement and frustration, Bella made two cups of coffee for them and went to his office to wait, ready to give him a piece of her mind, letting him know she wasn't some toy he could use to relieve himself off stress and anger.

The plan went out the window the second he entered his office, locking the door behind him, the click of the lock echoing around the room as she stared at him.

He was wearing a new suit that fit him snuggly, showing off his broad chest and shoulders, and he had pulled the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows, exposing parts of his ink.

"Ah, good, you saw my little addition to your calendar," he smiled, or smirked, and it was the first time he had shown any other emotion than anger since he had arrived at the office the day before.

"I saw, but I don't have time for it," she informed him though her body longed for him to touch her, anywhere.

"I've made sure that you do have time," Edward smirked as he removed his jacket.

"You're not going to let me out of here, are you, until I've lifted up my skirt and bent over the desk so you can fuck me?"

"That's right," the smirk never left his lips as he walked over to her and pulled her out of the chair and to her feet. Capturing her lips with his, he pulled the skirt up and pushed two fingers inside her panties. When he pulled away, triumph was shining on his face as he held up his fingers for her to see: they were covered with her wetness.

Suddenly Bella didn't care and Edward chuckled when Bella pulled him down for another kiss and his hand went back between her legs as she worked on his pants.

When he filled her in a way only Edward could fill her, Bella gasped and her back arched against the wall he had her pressed against.

After her own climax, Bella pulled away from him and pushed him against the wall before he could slam inside of her again. Kneeling in front of him, she took his cock into her mouth and he cursed loudly as he pressed his head against the wall.

"I take it that you like it," Bella smiled sweetly up at him as she removed her blouse, draping it over the chair she had left mere minutes earlier, before removing her bra and letting her breasts bounce free.

"Shut up and suck it!" Edward growled, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her to his cock, which she willing let slide between her moist lips. A guttural growl emitted from Edward's chest and Bella took pleasure in knowing she was the reason he growled.

After two world rocking orgasms and a moaning contest, Bella dressed, thanking Edward when he handed her a wet washcloth to clean herself up.

"I expect to see you at lunch," he said casually as fastened the button of his pants and zipped up his fly.

"I can't," Bella said as she smoothed down her hair, "I have an appointment I can't cancel or move around." She kept the fact that she was having lunch with her dad out of the picture, unable to see a reason for Edward to know anything about Charlie.

"Are you defying your orders, Ms. Swan?"

"I find it funny that whenever there's something you want, like sex, I'm Bella, but as soon I do something you find displeasing, I'm Ms. Swan," Bella couldn't keep the smile away from her lips as she spoke. "And yes, I'm 'defying orders', as you called it, because I can't cancel just because you might be hard and horny around lunch."

He didn't say another word to her after she left his office and Bella found the silence new and comfortable. Wordlessly, he added things to her already large pile of files and other things to do, like making appointments and notes about when to pick up his dry cleaning.

A quarter to noon, Lisa, the receptionist informed Bella that Charlie, a handsome elderly man as she had called him, was on his way up to see her. Not sure why Charlie had decided to enter the tower of an office she worked in, Bella powered down her computer and hid her calendar so Edward couldn't add more meetings for 'personal business', feeling a little childish as she locked the top drawer in her desk and taking the key with her.

"Bella," the sound of Charlie's voice brought Bella's head up and she smiled when she saw him walked towards her, led by Sherry to the right place. "Ready for lunch?" he asked after bringing her into a bone crushing bear hug.

"Can't wait," she smiled at her dad, unable to take her eyes of his healthy glowing face: it had been a long time since she had seen him so round in the cheeks or the pink tinge to his skin.

"I expect you back before two, Ms. Swan," Bella turned at the sound of Edward's voice, ready to snap at him, but his narrowed eyes and ridged stance made her close her mouth in confusion.

"Don't worry Mr., I will have her back by then," Charlie smiled politely as he took Bella's hand and led her to the elevators.

"So, have you met the protégé doctor couple yet?" Bella asked as she place her burger and fries down at the table they had chosen.

"They picked me up at the airport and brought me straight to the hospital, informing me that they want to run as many tests as possible before I leave tomorrow."

"I hope they can help you," Bella said softly, feeling the sadness fill her body.

"Don't you dare," Charlie snapped, "I'm already feeling better, these doctors are only making sure that I will stay healthy until I die because of old age."

"I know and I'm trying to stay positive every second of the day, but sometimes, a morbidly forbidden thought enters my mind."

"Don't worry kiddo, been there and I have done that so many times over the last three years I've lost the count, but I believe in this couple: they seem promising."

"I glad to head that," Bella mustered a faint smile before biting into her burger.

"And they are nice, and I'm not talking only handsome and beautiful, which they are, but they are polite, they're paying for the hotel and they're paying for dinner tonight, which you will join me for: I want you to meet those who will cure me."

"Free dinner?" Bella asked as she whipped the ketchup from her fingers. Charlie nodded. "Who can say no to that?" Bella smiled, making Charlie laugh.

*** C R S ***

"I'm needed for a dinner tonight," Edward announced the second Bella sat down behind her desk, the man himself emerging from his office as if he had been standing right behind the door, waiting for her.

"And?" Bella asked as she unlocked the top drawer, taking out her calendar.

"I need you to finish a few papers for me so I can arrive for dinner on time for once: I have two meetings this afternoon and I know the last one will stretch to six at least."

"I can do it, but I can't stay any longer than six," she informed his retreating back.

"And why not?" he demanded to know.

"I too have a dinner appointment I can't be late for and unlike you, I need some time to get ready, time to wash and dry my hair."

"Are you having dinner with the man from earlier?" Edward asked casually, leaning against the jam of his office door, his shirt tightening over his muscles.

"I am actually, not that it's any of your business who I have dinner with during my free time. After all, we only fuck now and then," Bella hissed the word 'fuck' in a low voice to make sure that no one had heard her.

"Does he know about your little side-job, about your past and our agreement over the summer?" Bella felt her face pale at the thought of Charlie knowing the truth of how she had been able to save so much money during her college years.

"Our 'agreement' as you call it was blackmail and we both know it, so why not call it what it was, huh?" Bella asked.

"Call it whatever you want Bella, but I know you enjoyed yourself this summer and I know that you've been enjoying yourself since we started up again." She felt the urge to wipe away the smirk from his face as he was looking so fucking smug, but she also knew that he was right, and so did he.

"I will have you papers finished before I leave for the day," Bella snapped, turning back to her computer and ignoring Edward the best she could.

"Thank you," he said as his notes came down on her desk and Bella felt a small, warm fluttering in her stomach: it was the first time he had ever thanked her so openly but she quickly squished the feeling and forgot it.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

"Sorry I'm late!" Bella apologized, almost out of breath after running from her cab to the restaurant, unable to pay for the whole cab fare to the restaurant, short on money until her next pay-check.

"Don't worry kiddo," Charlie assured her, hugging her before helping out of her coat and handing it over to the girl in the coat check. "They invited their son and he too is running late, so they haven't arrived yet."

"Good," Bella sighed with relief and a smile.

"Bella," the sound of Edward's voice made Bella almost groan, but she kept her smile on turned around, greeting him politely.

"Edward, what are the chances for us to be dining at the same restaurant?"

"It must be fate," he said with half a smirk and Bella knew he was teasing her.

"Ah, Charlie, good to see you're already here," a handsomely blond man came up to Charlie and clasped his hand in his, "We were convinced we all would be late because of the horrible traffic tonight."

"Don't have anything but time on my hand these days, Carlisle, so I left the hotel with more than enough time," Charlie smiled back.

"Esme, they're already here!" Carlisle waved to a beautiful looking woman with hair that could only be described as caramel, her heart shaped face filled with kindness and warmth.

"We're so sorry we're late," the woman, Esme gushed, as she hugged Charlie, kissing his cheeks in greeting. "We were on time but there was an accident a few blocks from here, making the traffic a small hell for everyone behind the wheel."

"We have all night," Charlie assured them, "And as I told Carlisle, it was I who arrived early. In fact, I think you're all just in time."

A waiter led them to a large table a little away from everyone else in the restaurant and Bella watched as Carlisle, the blond and handsome man, slipped the waiter money, thanking him.

"Talk about being parents of the year," Esme suddenly laughed when Carlisle pulled her chair out for her, "Charlie, this is our son, Edward."

"Nice to meet you, son," Charlie stretched out his hand for him to shake and Bella watched as Edward's eyes narrowed slightly before stretching out his own.

"Nice to meet you as well, sir."

"I know the two of you must know each other already as you were there when I picked up Bella for lunch, but I just love introducing her because she gets embarrassed so easily," Charlie smiled and Bella didn't protest as she loved seeing him smile again. "This is my daughter, Bella."

"Dad, Edward is actually my boss," Bella explained as she picked up her menu.

"Oh, so you are his new assistant?" Esme questioned with delight in her voice.

"Yes, I am. I've been working for him for what, eight weeks now."

"It's nice to finally meet the firecracker Edward has told us about," Carlisle said nonchalantly as he studied his menu.

"Firecracker?" Bella questioned, her eyes on Edward.

"That's our nickname for you, dear," Esme explained, putting her menu back down, "Edward told us that you were a no nonsense kind of girl, that when you say no, you mean it and that you don't tolerate any of his bullshit. It's plain and simple: Edward find you valuable in his office."

"I'm valuable, am I?" Bella teases lightly as their parents turned their attention to the waiter that arrived at their table to take their orders.

"You know how to do your job," Edward said in a low voice, leaning slightly closer without looking at her, "You know your calendar inside-out and just like me, you like order."

"To be honest, I didn't think you care much for me as your assistant," Bella confessed in an equally low voice, "To me, you only seemed interested in one thing."

"Oh, I'm mostly interested in that one thing and believe me when I say that I will have it when I want it, but I can't deny that you are a very reliable young woman with a sense of order. And you have the ability to take orders without questioning them all the time."

"I think we both know why I seldom defy orders," Bella murmured with a slight blush to her cheeks.

She had never thought of herself as a submissive person but when it came to Edward, she was willing to do anything he told her only for the pleasure he could give her.

"A trait about you that I find very pleasurable," he whispered with a smirk on his lips, and Bella found herself smirking back at him as she tried to hide her blush, glad that Charlie was busy ordering his dinner.

The rest of the dinner went by without a hitch and Bella found herself enjoying Edward's company on a whole other lever than she had ever experienced before. He talked with Charlie as if they were old friends and Charlie had no problems revealing embarrassing stories about Bella and her childhood.

"Tired dad?" Bella asked later on when the waiter came with their desserts, a weary and worn look on her dad's face.

"Just old, kiddo," Charlie smiled but Bella didn't buy it: he wasn't in his sixties yet, but she didn't push him either.

After dessert, Carlisle and Esme said their goodbyes, reminding Charlie of his appointment the next day.

"Let me walk you back to the hotel," Bella said softly as she accepted her coat from the girl in the coat check.

"Bella, I'm not an invalid: I can walk and I can talk, so I think I can manage on my own. I would appreciate if you got yourself home and into bed: you like tired."

"You sound like a parent," Bella huffed as she buttoned her coat up.

"That's because I am your dad and just because you're twenty-three now, doesn't mean I'm not your dad anymore: do as I say kiddo."

"Fine, I will get a cab home and go to bed," Bella smiled, kissing Charlie's cheek. "Will you be able to have lunch tomorrow?"

"I don't think so: Carlisle and Esme want to run as many tests as possible before I fly back to San Francisco, but don't worry, I will visit again soon."

Bella waited until Charlie was almost out of her sight before she started to walk in the direction of her neighborhood, regretting choosing high heels for her black dress, especially with the slightly icy sidewalks thanks to the drop in the temperature.

"Get in," Bella gasped and clutched her hand over her heart as she stared at Edward through his car window.

"You scared me half to death," Bella accused, not moving from the frozen spot.

"Only half," Edward smirked before his face became serious again, "Now, get in the car Bella."

"I'm not going home with you," she knew she couldn't take another sleepless night, no matter how good it could be.

"And I'm not going to bring you home with me, but drive you back to your place."

"Why?" Bella demanded with narrowed eyes.

"One, it's freezing outside and your coat doesn't look as if it could keep you warm in the summer. Second, you're wearing high heels and if I don't remember wrong, it's at least a thirty minute walk back to your place."

"Forty-five actually," Bella corrected in a murmur.

"And thirdly, I promised Charlie to drive you home because he knew you wouldn't be taking a cab. Now, get in the fucking car or I will put you in it."

Huffing, Bella got in the car, shivering as the hot air from inside it hit her chilled skin.

"Why didn't you tell me he was your father? Why did you let me believe he was just another guy you were fucking?" Edward asked when he had stop at a red light.

"I like to keep my private life private," Bella shrugged, keeping her eyes on the road in front of them.

"He's sick, isn't he? That's why he's here in town, to meet my parents so they can have a go at him? Cancer?"

"Melanoma," Bella said in a low voice, uncomfortable talking about Charlie's illness, not because of Edward, but simply in general: it had always made her uncomfortable because the cancer could take a parent away from her and she had no one to lose.

"Where on his body?"

"They found a mole in his right leg that was deformed and in a pink-ish color a few years back. They removed it, believing that they could remove everything but it had already started to spread, small lumps appearing on his leg underneath his knee. He started chemo and everyone believed that because it stayed underneath his knee, they thought the worst scenario would be amputating his right leg if there were chances for it to return and spread. They didn't know that had. Now, his right leg looks like a carved ham and they have removed so much flesh and skin that they've been transplanting skin from his left thigh."

"He's all you have left, isn't he?"

"My mom died from an aneurism when I was eleven. Since then, it's been Charlie and me," she didn't bother informing him of Helen as she hadn't had a place in Bella's life since Renee had died.

"I can't imagine how it must be like to lose your mom and then seeing your dad balancing on the edge of life."

"There was nothing no one could have done for Renee, my mom, and even though Charlie had the odds against him to begin with, they have finally started to turn. Charlie will come out of this alive and maybe even stronger than before."

The rest of the drive to her apartment was spent in silence and Bella knew that Edward didn't see things from her optimistic side. Even when the doctors had warned her that the chemo could take Charlie, she had refused to believe him and held on to her own optimistic beliefs. She was the one who had been right, she was the one who had believed hard enough for him to live through the extensive chemo that almost broke him and took him away from her.

"See you tomorrow," Edward said to her as she climbed out of the car in front of her building.

"Yeah," was all she said and then he was back on the road again.

*** C R S ***

A British and slightly arrogant voice reached Bella's ears as she headed for her desk after lunch Thursday. The three days previous had been spent worrying about her big mouth and how easily she had talked about Charlie and his illness. She had barely left her desk, listening to every conversation Edward had, convinced that he would either tell his parents or Charlie about a complete slut she was, selling her company and now willingly giving herself to her boss.

Nothing happened. Edward barely talked to her, consumed in yet another big case that could ruin him if he fucked it up and Bella had finally dared to leave the building long enough to get something to eat and bring something back to Edward so he too could grab a bite.

"I just can't understand why you bother staying here when the London offices keep offering you so much money that you can retire after only a year," the arrogant British voice said and when Bella rounded the corner to her desk, she saw Edward with a rather handsome looking blond man, Edward towering over the blonde one's short frame.

"You clearly don't see the value of family, Riley," Edward answered, looking bored but something changed in his eyes when he spotted Bella walking towards them, something Bella couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Hi," she said, smiling kindly, "I brought you a nine grain bagel with turkey and low-fat garlic cream cheese," as she handed the bagel over to Edward, their fingers brushed and confusion fell over Bella.

"And who is this little English rose," Riley, the blond haired, British and arrogant man said, turning his attention from Edward to Bella.

"I'm not little and I'm not an English rose," Bella smiled politely before turning to her desk, starting where she had left off before lunch.

"You may not be British but you are a rose, for sure," Riley drawled but Bella ignored him. "Tell me, what are you doing here, working under Dwyer, when Holland's department is much more lucrative and giving for a young girl like you?"

"Simply because I enjoy working for both Phil and Edward, and I'm not planning on moving from Boston any time soon. Do you have time to go over your calendar or do you want to wait until you've had time to catch up with your friend?" Bella asked Edward, turning her attention away from Riley.

"Come to my office in an hour: I'm sure Mr. Biers and I will have finished any business he wish to bring up."

As soon as Edward's office door closed, Bella unlocked her not-so-secret drawer and pulled out her notebook. When the doctor diagnosed Charlie with Melanoma, Bella had searched for ways to cope with it all without putting unnecessary stress on Charlie. One had suggested that she could keep a journal, write about her feelings or her day to day activity.

The book had been bought but not written in once, not even opened. However, Bella had found use for it years after Charli's diagnoses: a way channel her thoughts about the choices she had made in the past years. Never good to write her feelings down, like doe eyes schoolgirl with pigtails and pink fluffy outfits, she chose her words carefully and wrote as if she was writing to someone, for someone.

" _It all started when I was in college, freshman year. It was during spring and before a dance. I had no plans on going as I am a terrible dancer and our exams where closing in on us: I wanted to be prepared. However, there was one guy from one of my classes that begged me to be his date: he wanted to make his ex-girlfriend jealous and he offered me two-hundred dollars if I showed up with him and left with him a few hours later. Being a girl with no job and a future filled with student loans, I took the money and they made sure that I had food on my table for the next month and some._

 _I earned for my living during college by letting guys all over campus use me to make friends of girlfriends jealous, in exchange of money. I will never be proud of it, but I needed the money more than I needed to keep my pride and reputation. My father needed it more…"_

Happy with how easy it was to put her thoughts down on the paper, she closed her notebook and locked it in her desk before going back to work.

The sound of Edward's raised voice drifted out to Bella and she glanced at the door, wondering what was going on behind those closed doors.

Riley came rushing out and Bella almost flinched when he came to a halt in front of her desk and abruptly turned to her.

"I'm sorry I came on to you like that," he said, looking almost torn by something, "Will you let me apologize properly over a drink? Tonight?"

"I-I don't know," Bella stuttered, stunned.

"Just one drink and the chance to apologize, that's all I'm asking."

"Ok, one drink," Bella smiled slightly as Riley smiled brightly.

"See you at eight?"

"Eight," Bella confirmed and he left.

"Don't wear the black dress," Edward said from behind her and Bella gasped, swinging her chair around.

"What did you say?"

"Don't wear the black dress when you go out for a drink with Riley," then he turned on his heel and closed the door to his office, locking it.

Shaking her head, Bella turned back to her work.

At eight, she walked through the doors of the bar Riley had chosen and she had left the little black dress behind in her apartment, just like Edward had told her to. She had put it on when she first got ready but as she looked at herself in the mirror, she had quickly taken it off and started a dig-through in her closet.

In the end, she had opted on a black sequin skirt Alice and Rose had bought to her. It ended about two inches above her knees and the matted sequins didn't scream for attention. With a soft, pale pink silk blouse, Bella felt perfectly dressed for a simple drink.

"Bella," Riley waved at her from a table in the back of the bar.

"Riley," she smiled politely when she reached him but it quickly turned into a laugh when he shot to his feet and pulled the chair out for her, like a true gentleman.

"What do you want?" he asked, gesturing to the bar, "I'm having beer."

"I think I'll have just a glass of wine."

One glass turned into two and then two glasses turned into three and before she knew it, the third glass of wine turned into her fourth glass. Bella hadn't planned on even finishing her first glass and simply skipped her dinner, opting for a take-out pizza when she was finished with Riley, but then it turned out that Riley was quite funny and charming, when he had had only one beer.

It was easy to see that the man she had first met earlier that day was the true Riley Biers: a man who sweet-talked himself into women's beds, a man who objectified women to the best of his ability.

"So, Bella, how long did it take before Edward had you on your back, your legs spread and your cunt ready for him?" Riley asked in all seriousness.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, don't play innocent, Bella! I know Edward fucks you! And judging from the fact that he didn't bite my head off when I first arrived at the office and I opened my mouth, or when I asked you out for a drink, you must be damn good in the sack!"

"What I do and with whom I do it with is none of your business!" Bella said calmly, taking a sip of her wine, which had started to go warm. "You might have the balls to ask such a question, but you're fucking stupid if you think that any women would even think of going near you."

Calmly, Bella rose to her feet, grabbed her coat and purse, and walked towards the door, only to stop with her hand on the handle. With determination, Bella walked back to the table where Riley still sat, fuming, and she picked up her glass of lukewarm wine and threw it in his face.

She could still hear everyone in the bar laugh as she stormed down the street. She was fuming with rage, ready to hit something, anything or anyone, especially Riley if she ever was so unlucky to lay her eyes on him again.

As she waited for a cab, several burly men walked out from the bar and coming towards her. They were sounding cheerful and as they noticed her standing there, waiting for a cab that took forever to snail down the street to her, they all cheered loudly and praised her for taking care of the entertainment for the night.

With a smile on her mouth, Bella didn't the cab driver her own address when she finally could climb into the cab.

 **This is what I've managed to rewrite so far. More will come soon but by leaving out the possible rape, I have to write chapter nine from scratch, more or less.**

 **I've tried my best to make a stronger Bella. Let me know if she's straying back towards the meek one.**

 _ **DevilsWriter**_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

Edward wanted nothing more than to ignore who ever was knocking on his door close to midnight but unfortunately, Edward wasn't the only one who lived on the top floor of the building. Mr. Jones, his neighbor, lived just across the hall and with his increasing old age, had developed the habit of creating drama or call the cops whenever something he didn't like, happened.

Hoisting himself out of his dark brown leather wing chair, the only piece of furniture Esme had insisted would clash with his normally immaculate taste, Edward stretched and tried for another single second to ignore the knocking but it only grew louder.

"You better have a good reason for disrupting a rather enjoyable evening," he started as he opened the door, expecting to see anyone but Bella at his door. "What are you doing here?" he demanded to know.

"Not quite sure actually," Bella shrugged. "Guess I didn't want to be alone, I don't know.

"Right," Edward drawled as he leaned against the doorjamb. "I thought a strapping English man like Riley would keep you busy for the whole night, until the first light of dawn, not only a few hours," Edward mocked.

"It wasn't a date," Bella muttered sullenly.

"Guess the date didn't go as you wished, then."

"It wasn't a date!" Bella pointed out again. "Why I agreed to meet for a drink, I don't understand and I regret every minute I spent with him."

"I know Riley is an arrogant prick with an ego that takes up the whole of Europe, but he must really have done a number on you if you, the most accommodating person I've ever met, have a wish to strangle him." The humor on Edward's face as he stepped aside for her to enter his apartment wasn't lost to Bella.

"I don't want to strangle him," she corrected him. "Kick him in the nuts repeatedly until they would fall off, yes."

"So, what did the bastard tell you?" Edward asked as he helped Bella out of her coat, just like Esme had taught him as a kid. It didn't go unnoticed by him that her skirt was tight over her ass and that her blouse showed off just enough cleavage to tease a man.

"He asked me how long it took for you to have me on my back, legs spread and ready for you to let enter." If Bella had wanted a reaction from Edward, her disappointment for the lack of it didn't show on her face.

"And what did you tell him?" was all he asked and Bella felt a urge to slap, just like always.

"That it was none of his business if I fucked you or not."

"You know that by saying that, you just might have dug our graves," Edward sighed.

"How?" Bella didn't follow him.

"You basically told Riley that we're fucking and because he's a son of a bitch who enjoys making things hell for others, he's going to go to Phil and tell him: both our jobs are in Riley's hands."

"So I should have dragged him to the ladies room, pulled his pants down and pulled up my skirt, turned to the sink and leaned on as he slammed his dick inside me?" as Bella spoke the words, she saw how Edward slowly turned purple in the face, purple with either anger or jealousy.

"I wouldn't have let you do that," he grounded out and Bella felt slightly triumphant inside.

"Like you could have stopped me," Bella couldn't help but laugh. "I was almost on the other side of town and you were here. If I had taken him up on his offer, you couldn't have stopped it."

"Just like you can't stop this," before Bella could say something, her mouth was covered with Edward's, one hand in her hair and one at the small of her back, pressing her against his hard body.

"I wouldn't dream of stopping this," Bella breathed when he pulled away, her lips swollen and red.

"I know," Edward smirked, taking her hand and pulling her with him up the stairs.

Neither of them said a word as they walked up the stairs and neither of them said a word when they reached his bedroom. Standing in front of Edward, Bella looked at his face as he started to slowly unbutton the tiny silk covered buttons of her blouse. The usually hard and cold features of his face was gone. Instead, his eyes were soft as he focused on the buttons.

She smiled when he pushed the fabric from her shoulders and pulled the blouse. Then he unzipped her skirt, letting it fall to her feet with a small thud. Stepping out of it, Edward kneeled in front of her and removed her boots, letting Bella support herself by holding on to his shoulders.

As she stood in front of him in only her underwear, Edward still fully dressed, Bella didn't feel the urge to cover herself like she had before. She relished the feeling that bloomed inside of her as she watched Edward's eyes travel over her body, how his body tensed as his eyes swept over her breasts.

"Let's take a shower," he said softly though his face was strained. He led her into his impressive bathroom and told her to support herself against the sink as he slid her panties down and had her stepping out of them. Then he unclasped her bra and Bella shivered when he ran a soft finger underneath the swell of her left breast.

She watched him, still leaning against the sink as he moved around the room, starting the shower and letting it warm up before he turned to her and started to remove his own clothes.

There was nothing sexual about their shower as they stepped underneath the hot spray. They stood close together and Edward lathered up his hands and started to wash Bella's hair and she closed her eyes as he massaged her scalp.

After her hair was rinsed, Bella turned to face Edward and returned the favor by lathering up her hands and placing them on his shoulders, slowly washing her way down to his chest and abdomen.

The shower exploded with lust and Bella felt Edward grow hard as her hands came closer to his cock. When she wrapped her hand around him, she heard him suck in a breath before she found herself pressed against the shower wall, his mouth molded against hers.

Everything was slow, the way Edward felt his way down her body and parted her lips, slipping a finger inside of her. The way he lifted her leg to wrap it around his hip as he slipped inside of her.

They never broke eye contact as they moved against each other when the climax reached them, Bella pressed her lips against Edward's, which only enhanced her own climax.

When Edward pulled away and pulled out, neither of them were breathing heavy, which was a first, and Bella laughed when Edward pulled her flush against his chest and kissed her gently, just as the water suddenly turned ice cold.

Bella shrieked and jumped out of the shower, snagging a towel from the rack and pulling it tightly around her shoulders.

"Let me warm you," Edward said huskily and Bella felt the warm fuzzy feeling spread through her body again.

Taking her to the bed, Edward lowered her down on the covers and removed the towel from her body. Having Edward standing over her in all his naked and aroused glory, staring at her naked form, sent shivers through Bella's body.

Joining her on the bed, Edward covered her body with his and Bella spread her legs willingly, sighing contently as he filled her with his hard length of a cock.

His lips didn't leave her skin as they moved slowly together, finding their way from her lips to her jaw, to her neck, to her collarbone and to her breasts, her nipples getting a thorough examination of his tongue.

"Don't stop," Bella moaned when he guided her hand down between their bodies and to her clitoris.

The slow up build of their climax was earth shattering when it exploded inside their bodies.

A shout erupted from Edward and Bella moaned his name shamelessly as the orgasm washed over her.

Hours later, Bella was staring at the ceiling, a soft light coming from the large windows in the apartment, casting a soft glow over Edward as he slept on his back. His hair was sticking out in odd angles after being tugged by Bella and rubbed against the pillow, one arm over his head one arms resting across his chest.

As she turned and looked him, sleeping peacefully without any of the harsh lines that usually covered his face, Bella realized that Edward meant more to her than she would ever be willing to say out loud: she was in fact in love with him.

She loved his controlling ways, how he dominated her during sex and she loved how, even when he was arrogant and a douche, he couldn't hide the fact that he cared about her well-being. The fact that he had been jealous of her date with Riley was only fuel to the fire in her heart: he cared about her, more than he was willing to ever admit, especially to her.

Sighing deeply, Bella pulled to covers closer around, disturbing Edward ever so slightly as he shifted his position, and curled over on the side as she fell asleep. Her heart felt heavy and light at the same time with the admission to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten

Edward was confused.

It been a little over a week since Bella had showed up on his door after the bad date with Riley and they had barely spoken to each other. She had showed up in his office when he needed to add meetings to his calendar and she had done her job to perfection, as always, but other than simple pleasantries, there hadn't been anything else.

That Saturday, the morning after the date, he had woken up alone in the bed, the only trace after Bella her perfume and the fact he remember every single second their skin had been connected the night before.

He was used to having girl leave him in the morning before he woke up, the girls knowing he preferred it that way, and he knew that Bella knew the same thing: he had never hidden his true self for her because there had been no need.

Waking up alone without Bella had been different. Not only had it been a blow to his ego, but, most confusingly, it had also been a blow to his heart.

These were feelings had only felt once in his life, when the girl he had thought were there love of his life, had broken his heart for the second time.

He wanted to dismiss the feeling and Edward sat leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, when he heard Bella arrive back at her desk. Before he knew what he was doing, he was pushing his chair to the end of his desk so he could sneak a peek at her through the door.

Just as he rose from the chair, ready to go out to her and seduce her into letting him fuck her against the closed door or on top of the desk, or make love to her on the plush carpet…

Where the thought came from, Edward didn't know but he didn't hate it as the thought of having Bella lying spread out underneath him on the creamy carpet in his office as he slowly pleasured him, made a smile appear on his face.

The shrill sound of her phone ringing had Edward retreat his steps and sink into his chair again with a heavy sigh.

"Bella?" Bella almost dropped the sound of the voice but she quickly gathered herself.

"Helen?" it came out barely as a whisper.

"Yeah," her sister sounded just like she had always done: high and mighty, too good to talk with her own family.

"Why are you calling?" Bella asked, trying to come up with a good enough reason for Helen to call her, but she came up empty: the woman hadn't even called her to let her know that she had become an aunt again.

"It's about dad," the way she said 'dad' was so emotionless. Bella only called Charlie 'dad' to his face but she always felt a surge of love when she talked or thought about Charlie: he was the best she had left in her life.

"What about him?" Bella's voice was almost gone.

"I thought you should know that yesterday, he had a heart attack: he died early this morning."

"Why didn't you call me yesterday?" Bella demanded to know breathlessly: it felt as if she had been punched in the stomach.

"Didn't want to worry you unnecessary," Helen said casually and Bella could see her shrugging, like she always did when she thought she had done the right thing.

"He's dead?" Bella whispered, "I only talked with him two days ago."

"Yeah. The funeral will be held Friday, back in Forks," And then Helen hung up, the phone going dead.

"Are you ok, Bella?" Bella swung around in her chair to see Edward and Phil regarding her with worried eyes.

"C-Char… M-My d-dad…" she stuttered as the tears started and she felt herself slowly falling apart.

A pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her and Bella leaned against Edward as she cried, her tears soaking into his suit.

"Edward, bring her into your office," she heard Phil say and Bella felt herself being lifted out of the chair. She expected to feel the soft leather of Edward's couch underneath her seconds later, but instead it was Edward's muscular thighs that cushioned her ass.

"Charlie, he's dead, isn't he?" Edward asked after a long stretch of silence and Bella nodded against his shoulder as she continued to cry.

Bella lost track of time but she sat on Edward's lap until all the tears in her body had been cried up and only dry sobs were left, now and then racking through her body.

"Take a few days off and spend the time with your family," Edward said softly when the sobs too had subsided, "It's important to be with those you love in times like these." Bella almost laughed as she thought about spending days with Helen and her husband, knowing that they both would make her feel miserably as they would blame her for Charlie's death, just like Helen had blamed her for every bad thing that happened in her life.

However, she did as she was told and Thursday morning, she stopped by the office to make sure that Edward had her calendar and to pick up her notebook before heading for the airport.

Staying in her childhood home with Helen and Nathan, and their three kids, was just what Bella had expected it to be: Hell. She had barely gotten through the door after paying the taxi, because God forbid anyone came to pick her up in Port Angeles, it had been thrown in her face that she was to blame for Charlie's heart attack. Bella had problems wrapping her head around it, difficulty seeing how she could have caused a sudden blood cloth to his heart, but she didn't question it, just took it like always because there were no use going against Helen.

Everything about the funeral had been taken care of, according to Helen, and all Bella had to do was to wear a black dress that didn't show off her breasts or her legs, and be on time the next day.

*** C R S ***

The rain was heavy the next day, like it always was, but that Friday, it seemed as if it was worse than ever. She knew Charlie would have loved sitting inside, a beer in his hands as he watched football instead of standing outside and getting soaked to the bone.

The whole town had turned up and Bella recognized the faces of several she had gone to high school with, but no one came up to her and said 'hi' or paid their condolences to her. Helen and Nathan was surrounded by the town's people, grieving with them at the loss of the best Chief of Police Forks had ever had.

Her tears mixed with the rain that whipped against her face. The umbrella she had brought with her had been caught by the wind and only the Gods knew where it had gone. Clasping her hands in front of her, she listened to the priest as he talked about Charlie, his coffin ready to be lowered into the grown.

An arm wrapped itself around her shoulders and Bella gasped at the contact. Edward's cologne filled her nose and she turned into his side as his umbrella shielded her from the rain.

The heat from his body warmed Bella and as she stared at what would become Charlie's final resting place, she thanked the God she never really believed in for sending Edward to her when everyone else turned their back on her.

"Why were you standing alone?" he asked as he led her away from Charlie's grave after the coffin had been lowered into the grown.

"Because everyone blame me," Bella murmured as he opened the door of his car for her. He gave her a questioning look but Bella shook her head.

Their drive back to the house was silent and Bella enjoyed the silent more than she had ever done before, especially when she knew what there was to expect as soon she walked through the door, with Edward.

And it was just like she had expected: everyone grew silent as she walked through the door and shed her coat, hanging it up to let it dry. Someone whispered something when Edward came up behind her and as soon he had removed his coat as well, she grabbed his hand and led him up to the guest room. She knew Helen was already spitting out something, all lies of course, but Bella didn't care: she just wanted to be alone with Edward.

"Now, tell me why everyone blames you for Charlie's death," Edward demanded to know as soon the door was closed behind them.

"My mom died when I was eleven," Bella started, lying down on the bed, smiling inwardly when Edward did the same and pulled her close to him. "Helen is ten years older than me so she was twenty-one when it happened and she somehow believed that it was important that she took on the job as my mom after Renee's funeral. It was nice and comforting to have someone adult around when Charlie had to work late, but when Charlie was home, I needed my sister, though Helen believed she knew best. She dropped out of school as soon she learned of Renee's death and moved back home. I think Charlie appreciated it, the help at home, but as time went by and I grew older, it was as if she was doing everything in her power to take mom's place and shape it in the ways Helen saw fit. When I finished high school, she expected me to stay in Forks and get a job, not go to college and get a degree in something: she wanted me to be her. I refused and Charlie agreed that Helen couldn't expect me to stay in Forks like she had done. I got a scholarship, but it wasn't enough so Charlie took up a loan, even when I protested, and helped me move to Boston, bought all of my books and transferred enough money into a bank account that would leave me quite rich while studying." Edward moved, crossing his legs and Bella tilted her head to look at him. "Then Charlie got sick and I transferred the money back to him as he needed it more than I would ever need them."

"I don't see how you're to be blamed," Edward confessed when she stopped talking.

"Helen is a firm believer in that since I decided to abandon the family, that's how she sees it, it's my fault that Charlie got cancer, even when the doctor explained that he would have gotten it even with me living under the same roof. It all propelled out of control when Charlie sold the house to Nathan, Helen's husband, and told us that he was moving to San Francisco because if he stayed in gloomy Forks any longer, he would lose his mind and put an end to his misery before it would even start. He claimed that he needed sun, though the doctor told him to stay out of it during chemo, but in the end, Charlie had been informed of a doctor who had battled the same cancer himself and then started researching. Unfortunately, Dr. Johnson's research isn't near as extensive as your parent's work," Bella yawned.

"Get some sleep," Edward ordered and Bella found herself slipping away quickly.

At one point during her nap, she heard Helen barge into the room, screeching like a hyena, demanding to know if they were having sex under her roof, on the same day she had buried her beloved father. She didn't hear Edward's reply but felt him rumble underneath her.

When she opened her eyes again, it was dark outside and the whole house was quiet. She snuggled against Edward's chest and felt bare skin against her cheek. Blinking, she lifted her head to meet Edward's eyes as he watched her.

While she had been sleeping, he had removed her clothes and put her in a t-shirt. He had also removed his own clothes, leaving only his boxers on as they showed from underneath covers that lay low on his hips.

Pushing herself up in a half sitting position, Bella leaned in and kissed him. They had only kissed a few times during sex, caught in the heath of the moment, but then again, it was the first time Bella had initiated sex with Edward.

She had expected him to lay there, letting her kiss him, but he kissed back and Bella found herself sprawled over his chest, one hand pushed underneath her t-shirt, resting at the small of her back, while the other one curled itself into her tangled hair.

The kiss grew hungrier by the second and Bella found herself grinding against Edward. He didn't seem to mind as he moaned into her mouth and Bella suddenly found herself on her back, her t-shirt pushed up to under her breasts and panties gone.

Slowly, never breaking their kiss, Edward entered Bella, and for the first time since she had met him, Edward didn't dominate her like he used to. There was nothing rough about the sex and Bella enjoyed it immensely as he rocked against her, slowly pushing her closer to the edge and she clung to him as she came, moaning into his mouth. She felt him shudder above her and Bella milked him for every drop he could give her.

When they broke apart, they were both breathing heavily and Edward chuckled softly, brushing a hand over her tangled hair. After pulling out, Edward removed his boxers and Bella's panties as she pulled off the t-shirt.

No words were needed for Bella as Edward pulled the covers over them and Bella rested her cheek against his left pec. As she listened to Edward's breath even out, Bella lay awake, just enjoying the afterglow of the sex, imagining that their relationship, if one could call it that, finally would change into something Bella could enjoy as well. The past weeks with Edward had been different: he had taken her feelings into consideration, and that was new.

*** C R S ***

"I can't put it off any longer," Bella said, her voice strong.

For what seemed like hours, she had been sitting in Phil's office with him and Edward, trying to see how they could fit in a trip for Bella to San Francisco to clear out Charlie's house.

Charlie had been dead for a month and Bella was still struggling with accepting the fact that she would never hear his voice again, feel the warmth of his hugs and laugh at his silly advices.

December was just around the corner and she wanted nothing more than to be finished with everything and take a few weeks off, just like she knew she would have to do after returning from San Francisco.

"There's the running up of a case that will be needing all hands on deck," Phil muttered as he went through his calendar, Bella's lying open in her lap, the case he was talking about circled with a red pen.

"I think Phil, that we can let Bella go for a week or two: she's already done all she can so far and we're not going to court until the fifteenth of December."

"Yes, well, I guess you won't be much use for us if you are worried about the house in San Francisco, your head somewhere else than here. When will you need to leave?"

"The sooner the better," Bella answered Phil's question. "The sooner I go, the sooner I will be back."

"Ok, why don't we let this go as your vacation as you have a few weeks to take off?"

"Sounds perfect for me," Bella smiled as she closed her calendar and stood to leave. "Thank you."

"We need to talk," Edward's voice was low and dark in her ear as he walked up behind her after leaving Phil's office.

"I don't have time for one of your 'relaxing' meetings," Bella did her best to keep her voice neutral.

"I'm not asking you Bella, I'm telling you." Keeping a sigh back, Bella followed him into his office and closed the door behind, expecting him to press her up against the door, pull her pants down and fill her up, just like she wanted him to do but wasn't about to admit again.

He didn't do anything other than take a seat behind his desk.

"What's going on, Bella? Since your date with Riley, you've barely said a word to me, been distant. If you hadn't been doing your job, I would have said something much earlier, however, you're starting to get on my nerves."

"Sorry I haven't been to your disposal," Bella snapped. "I haven't been much in the mood for sex." It was a lie, but she wasn't about to tell him the real reason, neither of the reasons.

"I'm not expecting you to have sex with me every time I call you into the office," Edward laughed, once, before turning serious again. "I understand that with Charlie's death, things haven't been easy but you can talk with me if you need to: I'm not as heartless as you want me to be."

"I know you're not heartless," Bella murmured.

"Good," Edward smiled. "Now, go home, pack and get to San Francisco so we can have you back as quickly as possible."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

The snow had settled in Boston by the middle of December. It was different from sunny San Francisco and California, which had been hot and nice, but it felt good to be back, to be home where she felt that she belonged.

A large wool coat shielded her body from the cold and the snow that was falling, but she knew it wouldn't protect her from what was to come.

She dreaded entering the building where everyone would ask her how she was doing after clearing out Charlie's house. Packing up all his stuff, deciding what to keep and what to donate, it hadn't been as hard as Bella had expected it to be. The house had been cleared in three days, all the boxes marked and stacked in the living room, leaving more than enough room for her other reason to go to San Francisco.

Bella had a secret she wasn't about to share with anyone. She had known for a few weeks, from the moment she asked to go to San Francisco, that she was pregnant. It was easy to figure out who the dad was as she had only been with one man in the past six months, but Bella knew she wasn't ready for anything like that, to become a mom.

With a doctor in San Francisco, Bella had had an appointment to have an abortion but when she had turned up, changed into the terrible hospital johnny, Bella had changed her mind and quickly left.

She knew she had to tell Edward but she had no idea how and she lacked the courage to do so.

At least she had a plan. Helen had refused to have anything to do with clearing Charlie's house as she refused to acknowledge the fact that he had been happy in sunny California. The house now belonged to Bella and she was waiting for the sale of it to go through.

A small family of three had laid their eyes on it long ago, they had admitted, and though they were sadden by the fact that Bella had lost her dad, they were more than happy to buy the house.

With the money the house would bring in, Bella wanted to buy a place larger than her loft, a place for her and the little one she was expecting in eight months' time. it was just her luck that the place she found perfect, was in the same building as where Edward lived, even the same floor as him, making him her closest neighbor.

The contract had been drawn and Bella had signed it, now she was just waiting for the money to go through.

"Let's just get through the weeks until Christmas," Bella told herself with a hand resting on her stomach. "Let Christmas pass and then I'll find a way to tell him."

"Bella!" at the sound of someone calling her name, Bella jumped slightly and almost slipped on the icy ground. "Easy there."

She knew it was Edward the second his laid his hands upon her and her body filled with longing and need, but most of all, lust that no one could satisfy but him.

"Edward," she smiled at him when she was sure that she wasn't going to fall on her ass.

"We didn't expect you back until next week, but we're glad that you're here: we need everyone we can spare for the current case."

"Oh right, the one for the fifteenth of December," a picture of her calendar, lying safely in her desk with her notebook, locked away, came to her mind. "Clearing Charlie's house didn't take long as he didn't have as much as I believed for him to have. Instead of staying back there, waiting for the house to sell, I thought you would be needed me more here."

"I will always need you, the best assistant I've ever had, even better than Kate."

"I'm only better than her because I'm not married or in a relationship," Bella pointed out as they entered the building together, the door attendant welcoming Bella back.

"That too, but you've managed to keep everything in perfect order and you memorize things so you don't have to look it up all the time: a quality I praise highly."

"And something Kate wasn't able to do?"

"I don't know, but if she was, she didn't take her time to do so."

"I've always felt the need to feel somewhat organized. Everyone is different, so Kate might not have felt the same need as I."

"Probably," Edward agreed as they entered the same elevator and took it together up to the right floor. "Well, I have a meeting with one of our lawyers from San Francisco, so I will see you later."

Bella smiled politely and watched him leave before turning to the ladies room and locking herself inside before turning to the toilet and barfing her breakfast into it. How she was going to be able to hide the fact that she was pregnant from everyone until over Christmas, Bella didn't know, but she was going to do her best at least.

It turned out that hiding her sickness was easier than she had believed it to be. With an important case going to court in matter of days, everyone on the floor busy making sure that everything was written down, sorted and organized, that Edward had everything he would need to win the case. No one noticed that she spent twenty minutes every morning in the lady's room, or that she didn't drink her coffee anymore.

However, just as the case was over, won by Edward of course, everything calmed down and everyone went into holiday modus, ready for a well-deserved vacation.

"Got a bug or something?" Bella looked up from her desk, popping a mint into her mouth just as Edward appeared at her desk.

She had just returned after spending a dreadfully long forty-five minutes in the toilet, barfing up her stomach and spleen. It was the last day before everyone was off for the Christmas and the smell of coffee, gingerbread and eggnog filled the whole floor

"Maybe," Bella answered him vaguely. "Been feeling a little off since I got back from San Francisco but it's probably nothing and will pass soon." She hoped that would become one of those pregnant women who had a few bad weeks filled with morning sickness, then having a perfectly comfortable eight months.

"If you don't get better soon, you should see a doctor: you've been flying between your desk and the bathroom since you got back." Bella cursed inwardly, so sure that no one had noticed her frequent trips to the bathroom on their floor.

"I'm feeling better already," Bella assured him with a smile.

"Good to hear, don't want the holidays to be spent in bed or over the toilet." He turned to leave but stopped at his office door. "By the way, welcome to the building," he threw over his shoulder with a smile.

*** C R S ***

Bella spent Christmas basically alone in an almost empty apartment. The closest thing Bella had to company on Christmas Eve was when she Skyped with Rose, then with Alice, who had gotten married in Taiwan, to guy named Jasper Whitlock. She seemed to be ecstatic about her marriage and Bella was genuinely happy for her friend.

Even though she didn't have much to fill her new home with, Bella had made sure to make it feel like Christmas as she switched between sorting through her things and running between the bathroom.

The morning sickness had started to stretch from the moment she woke up to the moment she fell asleep. She was glad that it was the holidays as it made it ten times easier to hide her pregnancy when she was alone.

In the few days she had been in her new home, Edward had helped her carry everything up and into the apartment, helped her put together a new bookcase they could actually house all of her books, but other than that, she had barely seen him.

Her heart ached every time she heard him leave or come, every time she had seen him smile since that night they had shared in his apartment. it all had only gotten worse after the night in Forks, when Bella learned for sure that she was in love with Edward, no matter how hard she wanted to fight as he didn't share the same feelings for her.

On top of it all, not only did her heart ache for him but her body as well. She found herself rubbing her thighs together to create some kind of friction when she was watching TV, sorting through her books or going through her clothes. As a pregnant woman, no matter how early it was into the pregnancy, she was fucking horny all the time and she was grasping the last straw.

Christmas morning, Bella woke up to a fresh layer of snow covering the city, the fresh powder still falling hours later. Everything was quiet, not a soul out on the streets and for some reason, Bella felt the need to take a walk in the Christmas card presented to her.

Dressed in her best winter shoes, a warm and cozy jacket, scarf, a woolen cap and mittens, Bella locked her door just as Edward, equally dressed, stepped out of his apartment.

"Merry Christmas," Bella created him, feeling herself becoming wet just by the sight of him.

"And merry Christmas to you too," Edward smiled, locking his door. "Going somewhere?"

"Just for a walk. It's too beautiful outside to just sit inside and watch every holiday related movie I know, eat popcorn and make dinner. How about you?"

"The same. Felt like a walk before a long dinner and celebration with my family."

"Sounds nice," Bella murmured, sudden sorrow for Charlie settling in her heart.

"Let's take a walk together," before Bella could answer him, Edward took her hand and led her to the elevator, never letting go of her hand.

They walked together for hours, just walking around on the quiet streets, to the park, where Bella seized the opportunity to make a rather fluffy snowball and throw it at Edward when he wasn't watching.

"I guess Christmas this year can't be easy," Edward said when they started on their way back home. "There can't be much different when it comes to your sister, I guess, as unfriendly she is, but without Charlie…" he trailed off but Bella knew.

"When I was little, Charlie and Renee used to find the biggest tree that could fit into our house. Our last Christmas together, before Renee died, they went overboard: we barely had enough room for the dining table," Bella laughed and Edward joined.

"We loved it, the smell of pine as we ate, finding pine needles in our food, everywhere in the house, all expect Helen. She was too grown up to live like that, she claimed, but Renee refused to let her bad mood ruin our festivities, so she went out, found another tree, put it up in her room and decorated: Helen was pissed for weeks after Christmas, finding pine needles in her clothes and in her bed."

"Your mom sounds like a woman worth meeting," Edward murmured as they reached their building.

"Both she and Charlie was extraordinary, always making fun of serious subjects, even when they took them very serious. Look at Charlie and the cancer. From day one, he told me that he wasn't going to die from cancer, that there would have to be something stronger to bring him six feet under. He was only joking but in the end, it was a blood cloth who did it all, not the cancer."

"I believe, mostly because mom and dad told me, that if it hadn't been for the blood cloth, Charlie would still be alive four years from now, even cancer free. They really believed in the new treatment."

"Your parents are amazing," Bella told Edward as they reached their floor.

"You are amazing," Edward said softly, pushing Bella gently up against his door, kissing her greedily.

Bella took everything he could give her, savoring the taste of his lips, the feeling of them upon hers, the feeling of his body pressed against her and the smell of his skin.

It didn't take long before Bella found herself stumbling into his apartment, pulling the woolen cap from his head, removing his scarf and burying her fingers in his hair.

Clothes went in every direction and Bella didn't even know if they had made it up to his bedroom or not before they were both naked.

Everything disappeared when he entered her and Bella was sure that she was about come just from that. And she did. Bella clung to Edward as the orgasm rocked through her, whimpering as the release she had been longing for, lusting for, washed over her.

Edward didn't question it but they kept going and it didn't take long before Bella's second orgasm washed over her, taking Edward with her in the fall.

"That was interesting," Edward said, breaking the silence long after they had broken apart.

"Yeah," Bella agreed. For a second, she thought about coming clean, about everything: her feelings, the baby and her plan to have an abortion but deciding against it. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and rested her head on his chest.

"If I had known you needed it that bad, just like me, I would have taken you when you got back from San Francisco."

"Without the build-up, it wouldn't have been that good," Bella laughed as Edward pulled a blanket from the back of the couch and covering them with it, making sure that most of it covered Bella.

"I have to ask but have your breasts gotten bigger?" Edward asked and Bella almost laughed again.

"I've switched the brand of my pills. Sometimes, the body changes even the switching pills," Bella lied easily, too easily.

"Well, I'm not complaining," Edward shrugged, running a hand over a slightly swollen nipple, making Bella's body react to his touch.

"Neither am I," a smirk spread across Bella's lips as she pushed herself up and straddled him.

She rode them both into oblivion and when her own orgasm subsided, Bela collapsed on top of his chest. When she woke up again hours later, it was dark outside and she was still lying on Edward's chest, the blanket pulled over her and Edward's arms wrapped around her back.

 **AN: sorry for the long wait but between working and sleeping, I haven't had much time but I'm making it now. Is Bella too much of a push-over again?**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Edward didn't have dinner with his family on Christmas morning but spent the night lounging on his couch with Bella, the two of them eating take-out and watching _The Polar Express_ and several Harry Potter movies.

He wasn't about to complain as it was the best Christmas he had had in ears, doing nothing with someone he loved, no need to dress up in fancy clothes and behave a certain way. It was refreshing to just be and do nothing for Christmas.

Esme, the understanding mother she was, had complained at first that Edward hadn't showed up for their Christmas dinner, but when he informed her that he had spent the day with Bella, it had been ok.

However, as New Years came and went, Edward started to notice that Bella was behaving strangely. He noticed it the first time when he had casually invited Bella to a party with a few friends and his family, but he had thought nothing of her declining at first.

Then, after returning back to work after lazy holiday, Edward noticed how Bella snuck away from her desk now and then, how she stopped drinking coffee and how she looked as if she was holding her breath whenever she brought a cup to him.

It wasn't only he who noticed it and soon, gossip was going around the office like fire through dry grass.

In the end of January, a blizzard hit Boston and schools closed down, roads closed and people started to hamster food as if the blizzard would last forever.

Besides the icy, wet and cold sidewalks, angry cab drivers who hated the fact that they still had to work in the horrible weather, Bella enjoyed the weather, enjoyed watching it fall as she sat in the office and worked, enjoyed watching it fall as she sat curled up in front of the TV.

Everything seemed to fall into place as time went by. Her feelings for Edward was stronger than ever after spending Christmas with him, just being with him and doing nothing. Courage was slowly building up but Bella knew that she had to tell Edward before she had the courage or it would be too late.

In the middle of the blizzard, a day came that made everyone believe that the bad weather was finally over, the snow stopping and the sky showing hints of blue behind the thick layers of grey clouds. Bella felt that like that day as she sat in Edward's office, going over his calendar once again.

She had decided to come clean to him, give him time to think about the information she had just given him, and hope that he wouldn't curse her to hell and back. However, she was slowly changing her mind as everyone, especially Edward, was acting strange, giving her strange looks.

When she had first turned up that morning, she had had to escape to the bathrooms to inspect her outfit. During Christmas, her body had changed even more and nothing she owned fit her body like it had done. Fortunately, she had managed to cover up her stomach enough for anyone to notice.

A thick wool cardigan hid her stomach and a bright neckless drew the attention from her stomach to her slight cleavage.

"If you leave an hour earlier than planned, I think you will make it in time for the meeting tomorrow," Bella said as she quickly scanned over the calendar to see if there were any other important meetings the next day that would clash with the one at two.

"I'm sure you're able to figure everything out," Edward smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Why don't we have a coffee break? I sent Sherry out for the best coffee money can buy."

"I'm cutting back on coffee: it keeps me awake at night," Bella lied easily through her teeth just as Sherry announced her arrival.

"One cup early in the day won't do any harm," Edward smiled again as he accepted the cups of steaming hot coffee from Sherry.

Bella accepted it when he handed it over to her but one sniff of the coffee had her stomach churning and the longer she held it, the harder it became to keep the bile down.

Jumping to her feet, Bella rushed to Edward's private bathroom in his office and threw herself over the toilet. The second she had smelled the coffee, Bella had known that hiding her pregnancy from Edward any longer would be impossible, but she had hoped to tell him in a different way.

"So the rumors are true," she heard Edward say from behind her and Bella groaned into the toilet.

"That I'm pregnant? Yeah, they're true," Bella sighed, turning to sit on the ass that felt as if it was getting bigger with every mouthful she ate with food.

"And you were going to tell me when?"

"When I had the courage but it turns out, I don't have enough courage to do so. I was planning on doing it today but I guess I don't have to anymore."

"And how far along are you?"

"Three months. This little thing is expected somewhere in July," Bella patted her stomach gently.

"That gives me six months."

"Six months to do what?"

"To take back what you tried to keep away from me." Then he turned on his heels and walked away.

*** C R S ***

Edward filed for full custody and Bella refused to sign any papers that were presented to her. In the beginning of March, Edward brought it to court and Bella realized that she needed to a lawyer who was as bold and though as Edward.

In desperation, Bella sought out Phil and confessed of Edward and hers office affair and how that the said affair had led to more, and in the end, an unplanned pregnancy. Bella didn't hold back anything and told Phil everything she had on her heart, explaining how she had been scared and not told Edward until the rumors had started to circulate the office.

It was not a happy Phil that rose from his chair and walked around the desk, arms crossed over his chest.

"You do realize Bella, that I will have to let you go as the office have an absolutely no toleration policy when it comes to affairs with a co-worker?" Bella nodded and swallowed a lump before testing her voice.

"I know, but I want you to take into consideration that this so called affair started during the summer, before I started working here, and I didn't know who Edward was until my first day working for him. I made it clear that day that I had no plans in continuing our affair but the heart wants what it wants."

"The heart wants what it wants?" Phil sat down in the chair next to Bella and took her hand in his. "Bella, be honest with me, do you have feelings for Edward?"

"There's more than just silly feelings," Bella laughed as she started to cry, "I'm in love with him and I've ruined any possibility to earn his love. He hates me and he wants me to hurt, and take what he believes I tried to take away from him. I can't loose my baby."

"No mother should have to give up her baby when there's no other reason than mistrust," Phil murmured and Bella felt a small comfort from his words. "Call Emmett McCarthy. He works for our San Francisco branch and he's the only one who will be able to take on Edward with a possibility of winning."

*** C R S ***

Emmett proved himself to be able to take on Edward with ease during the very first meeting where the two parts would hash out any solutions that could please them all.

Edward, who was presenting himself with an intern to talk his side, offered Bella to see their child when it was born, twice a week, if it fit into Edward's schedule, but Edward would hold sole custody.

Emmett had slammed his fist in the table and refused the offer, letting Edward know that Emmett was ready to fight hard, even dirty if he had to.

The meetings didn't get them anywhere and only a few weeks after their first meeting, Edward brought it all to court.

"Just remember Bella, we're not screwed, not yet, but we're not winning either. At the moment, the whole thing is fifty-fifty." Emmett was sitting at Bella's brand new kitchen island, papers covering the perfect walnut worktop.

The island was a catch, a catch Bella regretted buying as she no longer had a job to pay for the rest of the decoration for her apartment. The money from selling Charlie's house had financed the apartment and made it possible for her own it instead of renting, but she needed to save the rest.

Phil had given her two months paid leave if she walked the same day after talking with the senior partners in the firm. They knew, as well as Bella, that they couldn't really fire her for having an affair with a coworker but Bella had agreed with them that if she worked in the same building as Edward, they were bound to walk into each other while the case was open.

Bella decided that she had enough fights going on, so she took what she got, along with a promise from Phil that none of it would be revealed to a future employer, as she wasn't the only one at fault.

She had enough money set aside to live somewhat comfortably for at least six months after the birth and Emmett, who had become a good friend, had offered to move in with her, rent the spare room, if she ended up finding herself in a pinch.

Anything economically that could put Bella in a bad light, Emmett had decided that they would keep to themselves and rather bring them out only if the information were beneficial for them.

"Em," the sigh coming from Bella was deep as she heaved herself up from the chair she had been lounging in, her stomach at six and a half month starting to become harder to carry. "Can we call it the night? Tomorrow is the first day in court and I would like to look like something more than a sleep deprived pregnant woman."

"But you are a sleep deprived pregnant woman because you're constantly going to the bathroom, as your bladder is the size of a grape," Emmett kindly pointed out as he gathered together everything he would need the next day to bring Edward down to his knees.

"I know. It will be hell spending days after days in a courtroom where there's only one appointed break," Bella rubbed her sleepy eyes. "Can go through your plan just one more time before you go?"

"I thought you wanted me up and out, but okay," Emmett couldn't hide his small smile.

"Well, the faster you talk, the faster you'll be out of here," Bella smiled sweetly as she joined him at the island.

"We're going to start simple, make Edward believe that we know we can't win this. I want him to tell the jury why he's putting you through this, a pregnant woman who's carrying his child, a woman who needs rest and caring, not stress and accusations. Step by step, I will have him telling why he will make a better parent than you, then jump in a point out his faults. He has enough faults to make the jury believe that he won't be a suited alone parent: bringing Edward to his knees will be easy."

"Ok, I don't know anything about law, I'm only a secretary, nothing more, so good plan," Bella smiled and gave Emmett thumbs up, making him laugh as he gathered the rest of his papers.

At the door, Bella hugged Emmett as the good friend he had become and she felt safe as he hugged her just as tightly back.

For a week, Bella hadn't walked into Edward in the hall between their apartments but it was just her luck to see him when she opened the door to let Emmett out. The sound of the elevator told Bella that someone had just left his apartment and she saw a flash of blond hair before the elevator doors closed.

"See you tomorrow," Bella murmured and gave him another hug before rushing inside her apartment, locking it and leaning against his, letting the tears fall.

She had never been in love before but she had never thought it would hurt so much to see the person you love look at you with such hate and regret.

 **AN: I think she's too much of a push-over in this chapter, but is it working? Please tell me it's working because I don't think I can rewrite without making it worse.**


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